No Distance Left To Run
by Moonbutton
Summary: Post tP:2001 story, finally finished.
1. Outside Of A Circle

i) This started off as a small scene but it just seemed to fit with an idea I'd been toying with for some time. It's going to be long - longer than anything else I've written - but I fear I may have overstretched myself... Any criticisms, comments, advice, etc. would be greatly received.

No Distance Left To Run

Chapter One

Outside Of A Circle

Parker burst through the doors of what was still, technically, her father's office but, due to her father's current state, was now occupied by the loathsome Raines. Her entrance had the desired effect; the two men in the room, each wearing identical bandages on their left hands, quickly abandoned all discussion though their features belied any indication of guilt at having been caught out in a compromising position. But she did have their undivided attention.

"Jees Sis, have you no manners?" Sat with his back to her Lyle had quickly twisted around his upper torso to see who had stormed in.

"Hope I didn't interrupt something?" she asked sarcastically. Ever since their father's incapacity Lyle had wasted no time in ingratiating himself further with the stand in chairman. If she ever wanted to know where Lyle was, and as the old adage stated it paid to keep your enemies close, she had to look no further than Raines' backside. She, on the other hand, held nothing but disgust, littered with hate and liberal sprinklings of loathing, for the man who had murdered her mother.

"Not at all we were just discussing possible avenues of luring Jarod back in."

He accompanied this with a smile and she felt a cold shiver run down the length of her spine. Her feelings for her twin, though not as strong as those for Raines, still packed a punch; she trusted neither of them. And she had the distinct feeling she'd interrupted something of importance. They were definitely hiding something from her - no change there. "Giant Pez?" she asked flippantly.

Lyle raised an eyebrow, a smirk riding his lips and obviously enjoying himself, "You have a better idea? After all, it's been what nearly five years now."

It had been a couple of weeks or so since the whole 'Alex' debacle and though she felt as though her world had shattered around her things seemed to continue as normal - or as normal as things got at The Centre. She still chased Jarod; well she would have if there had been any tangible clues to his whereabouts. He had been unusually quiet. She took his silence to mean he was further ahead than she was in decoding the truth behind that photograph of their mothers yet he hadn't called to taunt her about it. She felt slight indignation about that; funny how he could annoy the life out of her whatever he was doing. And how she found herself willing for her phone to ring because the last time they'd spoken he'd sounded as defeated as she'd felt.

"Was there something you wanted Miss Parker?" Raines wheezed impatiently, preventing Miss Parker from responding to Lyle.

Turning her attention to the older man she walked further into the room, "Yes," she uttered evenly, "There is." There had only been so much paperwork she could shuffle around her desk, so many empty, draining, and exhausting visits to her father, so many inane conversations with Broots about the wonders of modern technology and how he could use it to locate Jarod (resplendent with the requisite umms and ahhs that littered his conversations with her) that she could bear. And only so many times she could avoid Sydney's proferred friendship and fatherly advice. Instead she'd wasted time alone in her office, her thoughts straying to the question mark hanging over her paternity. She wanted to believe that Alex had just been messing with her mind, that his words were some twisted attempt to dig the knife further into her father's back, but there was doubt: in truth, that seed had been planted long ago. Alex had just added water to it. She found herself wallowing in that doubt, even as she'd sat in the Centre infirmary at her father's bedside willing him to wake and tell her it wasn't true.

"I want to see my baby brother." Thinking about her own paternity had led her thoughts towards the baby Brigette had carried. The boy had been kept out of sight pretty much since birth - she could count on one hand the number of times she'd actually seen him - and she felt slightly guilty that she'd allowed herself to overlook his existence in favour of the chase and her pursuit of answers. She could acknowledge that the chances he really was her brother were slim but he still represented a link to Mr Parker, a tie she could hold onto at a time when it seemed that nothing was as she'd been led to believe.

"No," Raines denied quickly, that vein on his forehead close to bursting.

Miss Parker closed the distance between herself and Raines' desk, placing both her hands down on the wood she leant forward: "I wasn't asking." The more she'd thought about it, the more resolved she'd become to see the child. She doubted either Lyle or Raines had any interest in the boy that was even vaguely innocent; Raines had managed to destroy too many children's lives, she had only to look at Angelo, or Lyle for that matter, to see proof, and she couldn't imagine Lyle showing any interest in their brother - he was neither Asian nor female. It was that determination that had brought her here. It was that determination that allowed her to return the glare Raines was now giving her.

"I don't see any harm in it," Lyle interjected, watching closely beside her.

The comment caused Raines to turn his gaze to the younger man. Miss Parker followed that gaze, managing to hold back her own surprise. He'd done something similar when she had announced that she was leaving The Centre for a life with Thomas and she suspected that his motives for doing so would be very similar. A suspicion he verified a moment later.

"If my sister," he grinned at her at that word before settling his gaze on the older man, "wants to waste her time with junior, then I can concentrate on more pressing matters." There was a long moment of silence as Raines glared at Lyle - the latter never dropping his smile.

Miss Parker watched the older man closely, his face retaining his evident anger at her approach, yet she had the impression that there was a whole other understanding passing between the two men and she was distinctly outside of that circle; a feeling that only multiplied as Raines gave a reluctant, "Very well." She wasn't sure if this statement was directed at herself or at Lyle; perhaps it was aimed at both of them. She only half listened as the old man went on to emphasise the terms and conditions of his consent. If she could have found the boy herself and snuck down to see him she would have, she detested even being in the same room as Raines. But, despite Broots' help, she had drawn a blank: the child was as invisible as Jarod. That had made her even more determined to locate the infant; why the child had been hidden away in the first place?

"Was there something else Miss Parker?" Raines wheezed, that look of anger still lingering on his face and now entwined with impatience.

"No," she replied evenly.

"I'll make arrangements for you to visit the boy."

Though he never actually said as much she took this to mean she was being dismissed. There was nothing more she wanted anyway. She turned on her heels, after first shooting both men one last defiant glare, heading for the doors with the same purpose she had entered through them. It was only outside that she could finally let out a deep breath and shake her head in wonder at what had just happened: it all seemed too easy, she had been prepared for a fight.

Lyle heard the doors shut behind him, mentally tracing her footsteps as they disappeared down the hallway, waiting until he was sure she'd gone. "Well that went smoothly."

Raines switched his gaze from the closed doors to the younger man, "I don't see how," he replied, missing the sarcasm altogether, "She's too much like her mother."

Lyle smiled, subconsciously rubbing his only thumb against the bandages on his other hand. "Maybe, maybe not," he said quietly. If he applied enough pressure to the wound he found a pain that was so acute it was almost pleasurable. And it gave him an edge, allowed him to focus.

"Miss Parker is too inquisitive for her own good," Raines seethed, already beginning to question the whole idea of letting her near the boy. "If she finds out..." he didn't need to finish the sentence, Lyle knew what he meant.

'Then things will get very interesting around here,' Lyle thought, already mapping out possible scenarios. "Mr Parker knew she'd come looking for the boy eventually, start asking questions. If he were still 'with us' I dare say he could have dealt with her easily enough but she trusts neither of us. Keeping her away now would only escalate her interest." He watched the older man seethe, knowing that he was right - and that Raines knew that too. "Of course we'll have to move the boy, re arrange a few things. Try not to arouse her suspicions too much - if they haven't been already."

Raines eventually nodded. It was possible that something, or someone, had pointed her in the direction of the boy - Miss Parker being who she was there was a distinct possibility that she'd already been digging for her own answers. He made a mental note to check in on Mr Parker; he needed the old man out of the way to maintain control of The Centre and keeping him in a coma facilitated this with the added bonus of emotional leverage over Miss Parker. "Someone will need to keep a very close eye on her."

"That pleasure's all mine," Lyle said with a twinkle in his eye.

* * *

Miss Parker stared at the photo in her hands, concentrating on the two people forever caught there. With a sigh she brought one hand to her forehead, lightly massaging her brow; there were no answers in the photograph, only more questions. She'd told Jarod the image was the key to the biggest secret of all - but she was no closer to that truth now than the day she'd received the anonymous e-mail. She'd tried listening to her inner sense but the voices had been silent since Ethan had disappeared. Her exasperation at her inability to control her 'gift' grew each day though she was certain the cause lay in her current scattered, and anxious, state of mind.

Placing the photo face down on her desk she brought her hand back down to join its partner on top of the photo. Never able to truly relax, least of all whilst she was physically in The Centre, it had now become virtually impossible; too many things cluttered her mind to ever allow her to truly let go. Her father's current state, unconscious and once more unable to tell her anything even remotely resembling the truth; her newly acquired, but now missing, brother Ethan; the photo of her mother standing next to Jarod's; and Raines, stepping into the chairmanship with such brevity and ease. All of these things played on her mind but, ultimately, they all made space for that niggling doubt over her own paternity. So much of who she was came as a direct result of the old man in The Centre infirmary; she'd done everything she could to please him - often coming up short in the process. The thought that it had all been based upon a lie was too hard to accept. An adolescence spent looking in the mirror every morning, being reminded of her mother with each passing day, yet ultimately neglecting everything her mother had taught her had been so difficult; the possibility that she had betrayed her mother for a man who had no real claim to her, gnawed at her.

Staring at the back of her hands her gaze settled on the ring on her right hand: her mother's ring. If she wriggled her finger slightly the light reflected on the ring's gem as it had done in, what turned out to be, her premonition. It had been an image Ethan had been familiar with too. She closed her eyes at the thought of him, remembering that short time she'd spent with her half brother, of how telling him about their mother had almost made it seem as if Catherine Parker was still alive. Inevitably her thoughts turned to her other half brother, the little boy she would finally see again - providing Raines stuck to his word. What she'd do when she got to see him was a whole other matter.

"Er... Miss Parker?"

Her eyes flew open to find the owner of the voice stood just inside the door to her office and she was uncertain as to who felt the more embarrassed at that moment. "What?" she asked, her voice carrying just the right tone of annoyance though she was pleased it was only Broots who had stumbled in on her. She'd become ever more reliant upon him in recent times, a fact she'd only realised when he'd 'disappeared' after she'd sent him to Dr Thompson's address. The panic she'd felt at his unexplained abscence, and the guilt at having sent him there, had rammed home just how important he was to her, though obviously there was no need to tell him that.

He cleared his throat nervously; "We might have a hit on Jarod's location." He held on tightly to a file in his hands, the sweat on his fingers and palms leaving visible marks on the card which only made him feel even more self conscious.

Miss Parker raised one eyebrow, hands still resting upon the photograph. "Might?" Her dependence upon Broots rather than Sydney, she knew, was based on the fact that Broots would never dare to question her, or call her, on anything she did. Or voice his concerns in that annoyingly fatherly way that Sydney was so fond of.

Broots ventured further into the room, placing the file on her desk once he'd reached it. "It fits Jarod. And it's the best lead we've had for a while."

She opened up the file and flicked through it. Her 'gut feeling' was that it would be another dead end, another missed opportunity, and Jarod would be long gone. She only gave a seconds worth of contemplation as to how she 'knew' that. She thought about pursuing it anyway, just for a change of scenery but a better idea sprung to mind. "Does Lyle know about this?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the papers on her desk.

Broots shifted from one foot to another, "No... I mean I don't think so."

She nodded briefly then closed the file, looking up at him. "Make sure he does Broots. Accidentally of course."

"Miss Parker?"

"You don't want to run into Jarod again so soon, do you Broots?" she asked pointedly. When Broots had reappeared from his 'walkabout' she had bullied him into giving her the full details of his absence, out of concern that something had happened at Tommy Thompson's place and that just maybe he'd stumbled upon something of importance there. She'd been surprised to learn of Jarod's involvement as the pretender hadn't mentioned anything to her during their brief telephone conversation even though she'd raised her concerns about Broots' disappearance; typical Jarod, only telling her what he wanted her to know. She could understand the pretender's foul mood, Alex had messed them both around, but she was surprised that he'd taken his anger out on Broots.

Broots shifted his feet again but resisted taking a seat. "Um... not really." His most recent encounter with Jarod, so at odds with his first, had led him to many conclusions; the main one being that he had to get the Hell out of The Centre before it was too late. "But... I mean..."

Miss Parker held up one hand stopping him. "Lyle's not going to catch Jarod - there's no way he's smarter than me - or Jarod. But I could do with him out of my hair for a while."

"How am I supposed to... let him discover this...?"

She placed her hand back down upon the photograph. "You'll think of something Broots - you're a smart guy," she said distractedly.

He nodded unconvincingly as a familiar look settled on her features - a look he was well acquainted with. An alarm bell sounded in his head, warning him to get out of there before he got roped into trudging down to the depths of The Centre again but he stood rooted to the spot. He was just as wary of defying her as he was of whatever it was she was about to ask him.

"I've got something I need you to help me with."

"Oh?"

She slid the photo, still face down, across the desk towards Broots. "I received this by e-mail."

He reached out hesitantly for the photo, peeling it back slowly, half expecting something to spring out at him. Seeing nothing amiss he flipped the photo over in his hand so he could see the image. "Isn't that... I mean it looks like..."

"My mother."

"Yeah, but... the other woman. It's... Jarod's mother, isn't it?" He looked up from the image to find a stony faced Miss Parker nodding. "I'll see what I can do," he said quietly, slipping the photo inside of the file and picking it up. He was going to leave, in fact he was almost about to turn and go but he paused. "Are you okay, Miss Parker?" he asked, suddenly infused with a sense of bravado.

She stared at him for a few seconds, unintentionally making him squirm. She considered biting his head off for stepping close to the line but if there was one thing she had learnt over the course of the past few years it was that she could trust Broots. "I may have found my brother." At his furrowed brow she recounted her meeting with Raines earlier that day.

Broots nodded slowly when she had finished, hoping his face didn't give away his surprise, managing to mutter, "I always wondered what happened to that kid."

* * *

He watched from the shadows as the bald headed man wheezed towards the comatosed Mr Parker. He held his breath as he watched 'Dr' Raines minister the patient, quickly - and silently - stepping further back into the shadows when Raines paused to look around the room. The wall pressed against his back signalling the confines of the room and that feeling of claustraphobia curled in his stomach. He could feel the cold concrete through his clothes and he pressed his palms against it, regaining his composure. Raines turned back to his 'patient' and he gently eased out a breath, confident that it was Raines' own paranoia rather than anything he'd done. The acting chairman hadn't seen him at all, he was certain of that - the consequences of being found didn't bear thinking about. He allowed his body to relax further, his muscles contracting, as Raines - job done - slithered out of the room as quickly as he'd entered. 


	2. Eyes Closed

i) Thanks to ICD, Remussweetie, pretender fan, Phenyx, Blade Mistress and Leochick for all your comments. I guess I'm going to disappoint at least one of you (Blade Mistress & pretender fan - all I can say is that I hope the story comes across as much more than just about the baby. In my head it does...)

ii) Apologies for the length of time it's taken to update - I've been on my hols : ) I haven't given up just yet; I pretty much have the next few chapters down it's merely a mtter of tidying them up and checking the grammar (which I tend to deliberate over for far too long) - Phenyx, it does sound better.

No Distance Left To Run

Chapter Two

Eyes Closed

As she followed Lyle deep into the labyrinth of The Centre a wave of paranoia washed over her, causing those minute hairs on the back of her neck to prickle. An alarm bell warned that she could be being led into some elaborate trap rather than being taken to see her baby brother and she could be in for a surprise. She refused to even acknowledge the possible scenarios such a 'surprise' would entail. She stopped her hand from reaching for her gun but felt a little better just knowing it was there. She trusted Lyle about as far as she could throw him.

Lyle was on her right, only slightly apace of her, quietly leading the way. He had taken a previous 'hint' to shut up in a manner that surprised her - she would even go as far as to say he'd looked wounded by her comment. He'd swung by her office no more than ten minutes earlier, cheerfully announcing that, as deemed by Raines, he was to take her to see their baby brother. A couple of days had passed since her meeting with Raines, a couple of very quiet days, and she had been beginning to wonder if the old man was going to make things difficult after all. It seemed he would - she was stuck with Lyle.

Lyle had insisted they took the elevator their mother had last ridden in to see the boy. Though she had recently come to understand her mother had not died there, that fact couldn't erase years of beliefs otherwise or the bad dreams regarding that day that still lingered. Certain that Lyle was trying to get a rise out of her she had coolly stepped into the elevator. Once inside Lyle had made a somewhat innocuous reference to their mother at which point she'd threatened to silence him permanently if he didn't do it himself - she'd bristled at the mere suggestion that he was Catherine's child too. The hurt look that had followed had been fleeting, but now that the moment was in the past she was beginning to doubt she'd witnessed it. But he had remained silent after that.

As they walked down a long corridor - indistinguishable from any other sub level corridor she had ever either walked down or had seen on a DSA - she couldn't shake her feeling of unease. They eventually reached the first of a complex of adjoined rooms. A doctor, whom Parker had never seen before, sat behind a desk in the first room and rose at their entrance, addressing them both by name, apparently expecting them. The woman quickly launched into a long diatribe regarding her charge's schedule for the day and her misgivings about Raines permitting such an intrusion. Taken aback by the outburst Parker watched in silent fascination as the woman's face, at first kindly looking, mutated into something less desirable. And this was the woman in charge of her brother.

Lyle cut the doctor off before she could finish, advising her he would make sure the chairman was aware of her feelings. Miss Parker had been on the verge of slapping the woman herself before he stepped in, but she figured Lyle probably had the right approach. The woman acquiesced at Lyle's warning, her features reverting to a more neutral position, heeding Lyle's coded warning. She excused herself, asking for a few minutes to prepare the boy for their visit, and left Lyle and Parker alone in the small, square room.

"You know, all this trouble - I'm your brother too. You can see me any time you want." He stopped and turned to face her, a devious smile plastered onto his face, "Well, almost any time."

She shuddered internally at the thought of witnessing Lyle's 'out of office hours' activities. "I spend more than enough time with you as it is," Miss Parker retorted, folding her arms across her chest and hoping he would take another hint and get the Hell out of there.

"I'm hurt, Sis," he implored, bringing his bandaged hand up to rest over his heart.

This time the expression of hurt that she witnessed was clearly faked - she doubted the man even had a heart. She glared at him but his differing actions unsettled her and she failed to come up with a reply; the difference between now and the expression she had witnessed in the elevator was marked - had he really wanted to talk about their mother? When Ethan had asked about Catherine she'd been happy enough to tell him everything she knew, did Lyle deserve the same? After all, they had both been in the same position: at Raines' mercy. She banished the thought as quickly as she could, there was someone else of greater importance - and potentially in the same position as Lyle and Ethan had been. Her little brother was at Raines' mercy; he was not going to grow up to be the next Lyle, she would make certain of that.

The doctor returned putting the final breaks on Parker's conversation with Lyle. Another woman, whom Parker presumed to be some kind of nurse, was at her side. "No more than ten minutes were the instructions I received," the doctor stated harshly, an unspoken warning lacing the words. She spoke specifically to Lyle, reasserting her position to him and letting him know the threats could work both ways.

Lyle merely nodded, that charming smile on his mouth, but Parker's heart sank. What was so important in a ten month old's life to have such a rigourous setting in place. She'd heard about children needing routines but this seemed way too much like The Centre at its worst. A flurry of images of what she'd find behind the next door rushed into her head - and none of it encouraging.

"Parker?" Lyle probed having already made his way towards the set of doors that would lead them to the child only to find his sister wasn't following. For a split second he thought she'd changed her mind but it seemed she was merely lost in thought. He'd have given anything right then to know exactly what was running through her mind but that was never going to happen. He wasn't exactly her favourite person. She edged forwards at his prompting, her arms still folded defensively. He thought she seemed apprehensive; the confident, overbearing woman who had demanded to see the child now seemed so far away.

Miss Parker followed Lyle through the doors into another room, this one obviously used by Centre staff on night duty - a bed was placed in one corner. Through the rooms other door lay the baby's quarters; the main room was brightly painted in primary colours and there were rooms leading off - with a quick glance Parker surmised these to be sleeping quarters and a bathroom, a third door was closed to. She didn't pay closer attention because there, in the centre of the room, in what she assumed was a Centre version of a playpen, sat her baby brother. The infant watched them both with open curiosity. Bright blue eyes scanned first Lyle, then Miss Parker, his gaze passing over the ring on her right hand, before settling on her with an intensity she felt immediately.

"You can go now Lyle," she murmered, her eyes on the boy, and finding herself unwilling to look away.

"Oh, I think I'll stick around."

Tearing her eyes away from the child she turned to find that smug grin present. "Fine," she hissed under her breath. The feeling of unease that she had encountered on her journey down to the boy didn't disappear; it should have, the boy was there, this hadn't been some elaborate plot by Lyle to isolate her. But she still felt anxious... nervous, even. She attributed this feeling to her inexperience with children yet she found herself walking over to the boy anyway, conscious of Lyle's presence but unable to stop herself. Crouching down she met the boy's eyes and was rewarded with a smile that she found herself reciprocating. "Hey there," she whispered a little uncertainly.

Not taking his eyes off her he struggled to his feet unsteadily, giving up quickly to crawl towards her instead, coming to a halt at the vertical bars of his own mini 'prison'. He wrapped his hands around the bars and rose to his feet once more and this time, aided by the bars, he remained upright.

She felt an overwhelming urge to pick the child up. Her inexperience begged her to reconsider but she ceded to the impulse. What else could she do? She rose swiftly, stooping to pick up the boy before she changed her mind or Lyle objected. She was aware of Lyle's scrutiny, and that of the cameras positioned throughout the room recording every second. The boy offered no resistance, letting go of the bars once she had hold of him, and her initial uncertainty quickly faded as she settled him, somewhat awkwardly, in her arms so that he was facing her. The boy stared intently at her again and she briefly panicked, the voice of inexperience mocking her as the infant remained perfectly still in her arms. Unsure of what else to do she smiled at him again, making her voice soft as she whispered gentle words of assurance. To her surprise the boy smiled again, bringing his hands to her face.

"Parker..." Lyle said weakly, and with very little enthusiasm.

She ignored his warning, she barely heard it - his voice was now reduced to a hum in the background. Her attention was on the boy in her arms; at his baby blue eyes, fine layer of dark hair, and dazzling smile.

Lyle observed her behaviour, and to a lesser extent the boy's, with quiet consideration. Raines' warning rang in his ears and he felt he should say something else or perhaps do something to break the moment. Loyalty to The Centre demanded it yet he remained silent.

If Miss Parker had happened to glance at Lyle at that moment she would have seen another very different expression upon his face but she was still enthralled by the small bundle in her arms. Still wrapped up in the rush of feelings he engendered in her. She'd never felt particularly maternal, children had always seemed so far away - to be dealt with later on, if at all. But something sparked within her, something deep down - and no doubt instinctive - that surprised her. Using her free hand she swept aside the boy's hair from his forehead; he didn't recoil from her touch and she had to concede that he did appear to be well cared for. But doubts remained. "Does Raines visit?" The question was aimed at Lyle but her eyes remained on the boy. With no immediate response forthcoming she finally turned her attention elsewhere, "Lyle?"

"No," Lyle answered quickly after clearing his throat, her movement breaking his thoughts and allowing him enough time to recover.

"Did our... father visit?"

"No," Lyle replied as he watched the boy lay his head on the small area of skin that lay between the top of Parker's blouse and under her chin, his hands grabbing at her shoulders. Parker herself seemed oblivious to this. Again, an urge to step in and stop what was happening came to the fore but he ignored it.

Miss Parker gave a slight snort of disgust at the answer she received but she hoped that the boy's apparent neglect by both Raines and her father meant that he was so far free from the worst The Centre had to offer. "So, he's been left here alone?"

Lyle gave a shrug of his shoulders: "He has twenty four hour care Parker - he can't sneeze without someone noting it down. He's getting the best medical care and education that money can buy."

'But no chance of a normal life' she thought. She bit back such comments even though she wasn't happy with the situation she had found; this wasn't the time nor the place - if there ever was such a thing. Voicing her objections would only lead to trouble - for her and the child - her mother was testimony to that. She was going to have to walk a very fine line, as usual, if she were to see the child again.

"We should go Parker." When she didn't move he added, "The Doctor will be back soon enough."

"I'll deal with her."

"Raines won't be happy," he tried again, this time with a grin, "He already thinks you'll interfere just as Mom did."

She clenched her teeth at his words. She still had trouble believing he could be her brother. In another time, another place, she might have stood her ground further but she was conscious of the boy in her arms and her growing desire to see him again - he was much more than merely a link to her father. "Fine," she muttered, turning her back on Lyle. Glancing down at the boy, his head still laying against her, she whispered: "I have to go now but I'll come back. I promise."

The infant looked up to her as she began to speak, the small smile on his little face had faded by the time she had finished speaking, as if he had understood every word. After a long pause he finally relinquished his hold on her.

She gently lowered the child back into his 'cage', placing him back among the few items in there - all educational; there was not one toy amongst them that didn't serve a learning purpose. She resolved to rectify that on her next visit. Straightening her back she was amazed at how easily she'd fallen under the boy's spell. Turning to face Lyle, a wry smile on his face, she broke from such thoughts, suddenly aware of how obvious her display had been. Shooting him a quick, defiant look she walked by him, heading for the way out. As she opened the door she glanced back, ostensibly to glare at Lyle but really to steal one more glance at the boy. She felt a stab of pain at the sight of the boy, once more stood against the bars, hands wrapped around them.

They walked out in silence, Miss Parker leading the way through the cumbersome doors and past the glares of the doctor and her attendant, throwing a caustic glare of her own back at them. Their unhappiness at her visit had been apparent but she suspected it was something more than that; they seemed especially uneasy. The boy's location, the apparent altruistic approach to him, and the minimal security all begged her to question why she had been unable to locate him herself. She made a mental note to look into that. But she still couldn't shake the feeling of holding the child in her arms. She had to see him again.

"That was sweet," Lyle said in a mocking tone, once they were back in the corridor.

"Shut up Lyle."

"But you do 'Mommy' so well Parker," he said evenly, matching her pace.

A thought whipped through her head so quickly and so violently that for a few moments she felt as though the world was off kilter; her legs felt weak and incapable of holding her up causing her to suddenly stop, her heart skipped not one but two beats, her lungs felt devoid of any air, and an ocean of water swirled in her ears. With a measure of calm, and without betraying any of this openly, she rode it out, finding her voice as quickly as she could: "What is it exactly that you want?" Lyle eyed her curiously for a good few seconds but she held her ground.

Having stopped walking when she did, albeit a step ahead of her, he now stood in front of her. "You have to be careful Parker."

She probed his eyes but could distinguish nothing revealing behind them. "I always am," she ground out slowly.

He nodded at her knowingly. "You're already thinking of going back to see him."

"What makes you think that?" she asked cautiously, her actions with the child in front of Lyle seeming so risky once again.

He shrugged, slinging his hands into his pockets and a smirk beginning to form, "Intuition."

Miss Parker raised one eyebrow, "In touch with your feminine side, Lyle?"

"Raines is going to be watching you very closely," Lyle said evenly, ignoring her barb and the natural urge he felt to sling a comment back at her.

His smirk had disappeared which, along with his last statement, made her ever more cautious. "Getting too close to the answers am I?"

"Or too far away from the chase," Lyle sighed. He looked over her shoulder towards the boy's quarters for a second or two. "It's all about balance Sis," he began, knowing the use of the last word would needle her, "What we do and what we appear to do can be two completely different things."

"No... You don't say," she replied sarcastically, still unsure of his motives.

He grinned again. At times he admired Miss Parker more than he should which was in stark contrast to the times he felt like wringing her neck. For various reasons he'd been forced to find his own balance in that respect, a balance he found immensely difficult, especially lately, to maintain. He clenched his hand tightly inside his pocket. "All I'm saying is don't be too obvious. There are ways to see the boy without anyone else being there - which, by the way, are the directives Raines has given."

She glared at him for a moment. A quick glance around their surroundings showed that the cameras in the corridor were positioned as such that she and Lyle were effectively in a blind spot, any images or audio caught would be highly ambiguous. Lyle had chosen his moment exceedingly well but every cell in her body screamed at her to be extremely cautious. "What the Hell are you up to?"

He stared for a beat before smiing. "I just want you out of my way completely. Like I said before, with you distracted by the kid I can get on with the real business at hand: Jarod."

"Right," she said slowly, "That's why you came up empty handed again the other day."

He continued to smile at her; he had followed up yet another clue on Jarod's whereabouts that had led to a dead end, that much was true. "Yet I appear to be the one seen to be chasing Jarod." He dropped his smile, "Dad's not able to protect you Parker. With Raines in charge I wouldn't stop looking over your shoulder. He's not as forgiving."

She mulled his words over; was he warning her against Raines - an unnecessary effort if he were - or was he merely diverting her attention away from himself? "So do I have to donate a body part too? Just to keep him off my back?"

Lyle grinned, bringing his hands out of his pockets and massaging the space where his thumb - and its replacement - used to be. "Well technically it was his thumb to begin with but yes, returning it hasn't harmed my position."

"You'll do anything won't you?" she said, slightly sickened once more at the thought of Lyle harvesting Raines' thumb and then returning it.

He sighed a little impatiently. "I'll do whatever it takes Parker. So should you."

She smiled grimly in return but yet again felt unable to say anything. Instead she took a step back so she could side step him, getting as far away as possible from him seemed the best choice.

He stared ahead as she walked past him, at where they had just come from. For a few seconds he just stood still, his eyes on the distance in front, his ears catching the familiar click of heels echo away behind him. He wondered if she had even listened to a word he had said. Probably not, but it didn't matter - she'd be back to see the boy.

--------

He edged nervously into the room, holding the door and guiding it slowly - and quietly - into the closed position. But she still heard him.

"What?"

He walked up to her desk before he even dared speak. "It's about that photo," he whispered conspiratorally. He finally got her attention as she abandoned the paperwork on her desk and he was met by a stunning pair of blue eyes causing him to catch his breath. She never failed to have an effect upon him, whether she intended to or not.

"Well?" she asked impatiently.

"Er," he swallowed nervously, wondering if he should sit down or not. He decided on the latter. "It was sent from inside The Centre."

"Who, Broots?"

He swallowed again. "Raines."

She nodded to herself, "Sydney told me Raines might be the last link to my mother." She had briefly wondered about the photo's origin but, for the most part, it was the people caught on it that hung around in her thoughts. Now she had a whole new set of questions to ask. Once more she wondered why her mother ever trusted that man; how was he able to take everyone in?

"Miss Parker?" he said quietly, catching her attention once more, "He sent it to someone else too."

She sighed softly. "I know, Broots."

"Oh." The word came out with more surprise than he'd intended. He knew she spoke to the pretender more than she ever let on; about old secrets, about new secrets, and, he suspected, about other things too. "What are you going to do?"

She looked back at her desk but her mind was elsewhere. "I don't know," she said sadly. Confronting Raines again didn't seem such a good idea. Apart from the feelings of loathing she was always tempted to just take out her gunand shoot him whenever she was near him and one day she wasn't going to be able to stop herself. If he held any answers to her past she would lose them

--------

"Well?"

Lyle walked further into the room with an air of confidence, not answering the question until he was seated. "You weren't watching?" he asked, knowing exactly what the answer would be. Too much was at stake for Raines not to be watching.

Raines quietly seethed, his distaste at his question being answered with a question was only tempered by the fact that he needed the younger man. For the moment anyway. "I will hold you responsible," he warned.

"Then neither of us has anything to worry about," Lyle offered with a smile. He waited a few beats to judge the older man's reactions - the usual burning anger - before adding casually, "She'll want to see him again, of course."

"Of course she would," Raines muttered angrily. "I'd expect nothing less from Miss Parker," he eyed the younger man accusingly - this was all his fault.

Lyle tilted his head to one side briefly, "She'll be observed closely at all times. The first sign that anything is amiss I'll take care of her."

Raines sat back in his seat, taking steady breaths and maintaining his anger. There was a malicious glint to the younger man's eyes and Raines felt slightly reassured by this. But only slightly. His suspicions regarding Lyle were only minimal; Lyle's thirst for power was a tangible thing but as to what lengths he'd go to quench such a thirst was another matter. Watching them both with the boy on the monitors had turned his thoughts back to his initial reaction, a question that had been niggling at him since Miss Parker had stormed into his office demanding to see the boy. "She has never bothered with the child before, something must have piqued her interest."

"Maybe Dad said something before he got shot," Lyle ventured.

"Or Alex."

Lyle felt a slight chill at the name but managed to stop himself from glancing around the room. "Before he jumped? It's possible," he offered optimistically.

Raines exhaled deeply, sitting forward. "Or more recently."


	3. The Wind And The Sails

i) Thanks to Jar-Par Fan, pretender fan, annette, and lily for reviewing the last chapter.

No Distance Left To Run

Chapter Three

The Wind And The Sails

Apart from the the quiet hiss of the machinery around them there was a tortuous silence. She held on to his hand and stared at his face. Every line, every wrinkle, every contour was ingrained in her mind: an image of her father. She squeezed his hand, willing him to respond in some small way. He hadn't before and he wouldn't now. She was so close to her answers yet they seemed so far away, lost in a deep sleep perhaps never to be recovered. As unobtainable as ever.

Her mother had 'told' her that her father knew all the secrets and now he was out of reach. If he even was her father. Alex had insinuated the old man she now held on to was not her father - an idea that she wanted to pass off as the ramblings of a mad man but Jarod had suggested something similar years before and, as much as she found it difficult to admit it, she trusted the pretender. Sitting there it dawned on her that her real problem lay in how to interpret her mother's words, mainly the meaning placed on the word father. Was it the man she had always believed was her father, Mr Parker, or was it someone else? Had her mother known that she was aware of the possibility Mr Parker wasn't really her father? Another question that wouldn't be answered - and one that she wasn't entirely sure she wanted answering.

With her free hand she caressed her brow. The last thing her father - Mr Parker - had said was that there was so much she needed to know. Did that verify her mother's statement, that he - her father - knew the secrets? Or was it just another lie from Mr Parker, another half truth to keep her hanging on to him? Of course there was always the possibility that he was alluding to something entirely different.

As frustrating as these thoughts were they did provide one important function: they kept her mind off her little brother. And off Lyle. Her visits to the infant had invariably been intruded upon by Lyle. Whenever she looked over her shoulder he seemed to be there - even when she wasn't visiting the boy. He had been right about Raines' directions though, she was never allowed to be alone with her little brother; if Lyle wasn't there the doctor she had met on her first visit was. She had thought about Lyle's 'suggestion' to appear as inconspicuous as possible but why should she? The child was her brother and with her father in his current state there was no one else. If Raines started to question her actions she'd deal with him then. Quite frankly though, there was nothing else to do - Jarod's current location, and state of mind for that matter, was still a mystery.

"Penny for them."

She silently congratulated herself for not jumping too much at the sound of his voice as she passed off the initial jerk of her body as a turn to face him. "Well if it isn't my shadow," she muttered. He had the nerve to look puzzled by her words.

"I just want to spend some time with my sister," Lyle said, a note of teasing to his voice.

"And here I thought you wanted me out of your way so you could catch Jarod." Letting go of her father's hand she stood, crossing her arms in front of her, and took a couple of steps towards him. "That's working out well for you."

Lyle sighed but held back from returning a barb. He glanced past her looking at the old man on the bed, to the empty shell that distracted her as much as the boy. "We're not much of a family," he began, letting his gaze wander back to her, "Are we?"

For a fleeting moment she was surprised by his words. "That's never bothered you before," she said harshly, meeting his gaze with a hard stare. He didn't look away from her, his blue eyes held hers and he stood his ground. Not for the first time her instincts told her not to trust him. There was a protracted silence as neither party backed down, the only sound once more being the hum of the machinery. It was Lyle who broke the deadlock.

"Seeing you with the boy... I guess I never realised what an effect family can have," he said eventually, still holding her gaze, "Or how important they are."

Though she wanted to be as far away from him as she could at that moment she took a few more steps toward him so they were barely a metre apart; image was everything and she was loathe to show in any way that he had unsettled her. "And this would be your," she paused, making a show of it, "...first visit to our father?" she asked sarcastically, "Very important." His smile grew wider at her words and she wondered if he was aware of the possibility that the man laying a short distance away may not be their father. Hell, Lyle probably knew one way or the other. His next words seemed to confirm that.

"I'm here to see you Parker," he said quietly, "Not him."

A little voice, the inquisitive side of her, pushed to ask him further about their paternity but she let it pass. She wouldn't have trusted his answer anyway, he played too many mind games and only ever looked out for himself. What she wouldn't give for a straight answer - even Jarod took the long, protracted route, making her jump through his hoops to get to the truth. "Whatever it is you have to say Lyle, I'm not interested." She moved to walk past him but only took a couple of steps before his response stopped her in her tracks.

"We can't find Alex's body."

She stood there for a moment letting the information sink in. From the corner of her eyes she could see Lyle staring ahead, that annoying grin threatening to break free, no doubt pleased that he had one up on her. Again. She slowly retraced her steps. "You think he's still alive."

Lyle shrugged non committedly; "It's a possibility. Of course he could just as easily have washed downstream."

She nodded her head slowly, the air of secrecy between Lyle and Raines suddenly making sense. "And you're telling me because...?"

"If Alex is still alive he may try to finish what he started. I wouldn't want anything to happen to my dear sister."

She scrutinised him closely. His face was blank, unnerving because he usually employed all the charm he could muster and materialised it in his smile. Was he actually being truthful with her? She tried to think of a reason why he would but failed to come up with anything. "I don't remember you being so concerned before."

"I didn't think you'd be a target last time," Lyle said pointedly. "It was Dad and myself who seemed to be the ones on the line." He stared at her for a beat; "Alex obviously had some reason for targetting you as well..."

"Because of my father," she ground out impatiently as Lyle continued to stare at her wordlessly, his accusation a silent one.

"Must be," he said with a wan smile. "Whatever the reason if Alex is still alive then we're all at risk."

She glanced to the side, her eyes resting on Mr Parker. "Especially him," she whispered. He looked so old and fragile right then, the blanket of machines around him destroying any wishful thinking that he was merely sleeping. Without the stature his tall frame awarded him, or the glint in his clear blue eyes, or the tone of his deep voice - variously wrapped in disappointment, anger, or authority - he suddenly didn't seem like her father at all. She wrapped her arms around herself in comfort; the question over her paternity seemed to raise its head at every opportunity and she wondered how long she could go on ignoring it. She dragged her gaze back to Lyle only to find him staring at her once more. "What?" she demanded.

He shook his head slightly and opened his mouth to speak but changed his mind about the content. "Nothing," he appeased.

Miss Parker closed the gap between them, coming to a halt inches from him. "You know something else don't you? About our father." His face remained blank for a second or two before erupting into a smile.

"I don't know what you mean Parker."

"If I find out you've kept something from me about our father I -"

"I know," Lyle interrupted, grinning wider, "You'll make me sorry."

She shook her head at him; answers from Lyle were not the way to go. It was becoming increasingly obvious to her that she'd have to do something herself or spend the rest of her life always wondering. And not just about her father. With one last look of disgust at Lyle she turned and walked away.

Lyle watched her until she disappeared from his view, his smile fading with every step she took. It hadn't went as well as planned though nothing ever did with Miss Parker; she was always so defensive. Taking a step of his own towards Mr Parker's bed he looked at its occupant with curiosity. A few more steps brought him level with the older man's head and he stopped there, taking in the weathered features.

The fourth person present watched the younger man finally walk away from the safety of the ventilation shaft. He sat upright no longer having to conceal his presence, the older man on the bed would not be aware of him. He stared thoughtfully into the room; there was something he needed to do. With a smile Angelo turned around and headed away from the infirmary.

------

With the food ordered and drinks brought over to their table, Sydney waited patiently for his companion to speak. The silence was reminiscent of the car journey to the restaurant. With Miss Parker driving, and caught in a pensive mood, he'd bitten his tongue and stared out of the window. He'd found it was sometimes better to let her begin.

She had strode into his office an hour earlier with that familiar determined air, had thrown a simple, terse, 'You hungry Freud?' and he'd known it hadn't been a question. He'd acquiesced, somewhat intrigued. They had not been on the best of terms of late. It was partly his own fault; his desire to help Miss Parker was restrained by the past - and the promises he had made. He knew she relied upon Broots as much, if not more, than himself recently and if he were honest with himself he missed that. Five years working on the pursuit of Jarod had, inevitably, drawn them all - albeit Miss Parker somewhat reluctantly - closer together.

He sat back in his chair, watching her run a long delicate finger slowly up and down her glass and it struck him that she looked tired. It had been a long, difficult, five years - they had been running for so long it was understandable. He was in no doubt that his protege felt much the same way.

Miss Parker glanced around the restaurant one more time, trying to convince herself to open her mouth. She knew confiding in Sydney was necessary - he had knowledge of both The Centre and her mother - yet she still found it difficult to open up to him. She pushed that doubt away, this was Sydney; despite her actions or words to the contrary she valued his input, his advice, and his friendship. She smiled briefly before reaching into her pocket and retrieving a folded piece of paper. "Raines sent this," she explained as she passed it over to Sydney. She watched his face carefully as he opened the square of paper to reveal a copy of the photograph of her mother, his puzzled expression deepening at the contents. His eyes hovered on the image for a few seconds before meeting her own.

"I had no idea," he said eventually.

"Jarod received a copy too."

"You've spoken to him recently?" Sydney asked quickly, his eyes still on hers.

She couldn't miss the concern in his voice, it shone like a beacon. Not for the first time Sydney showed her that the Pretender meant more to him than he should. "Not for some time now. He'll be okay Syd. He's probably just working on the biggest, stupidest prank ever aimed at yours truly," she answered, trying to sound optimistic.

"Or perhaps looking into this," he replied trying to prolong the positive thinking she had started. Sydney dropped his eyes to the photo once more. He recalled the very last time he had spoken to Catherine Parker and how he'd been unable to help her. He folded the copy back up, his thoughts still on its contents. Glancing up he found her staring expectantly at him for answers he couldn't provide. "Miss Parker... I'm sorry, I don't have any answers."

"Sydney, my mother confided in you. Did she never mention Jarod's mother?"

There was desperation in her voice and in her eyes, that need for answers that plagued her so much. He wished he could take that away from her but he just couldn't. He sighed softly, "She never said anything about... this."

Miss Parker looked away from him disappointedly. She had known there was only a small possibility that Sydney knew anything but she had allowed herself to hope otherwise. It seemed there was no one who could, or would, answer her questions. Except perhaps one person. She took a sip of her drink before facing him again. "Everytime I get closer to the truth something happens to sidesweep me, to knock me off the track. And Raines is usually behind it."

He winced inwardly at the tone of her voice. "Are you planning to confront him?"

She considered his question but in truth she had already made her decision. "No," she replied, shaking her head, "At least, not yet." She took the square of paper from him, "I have the feeling this is a distraction, to take both mine and Jarod's eyes off something else."

"Your brother?" Sydney asked astutely.

"Broots told you," she said, getting a nod in response. She dropped her eyes once more. Even though she could no longer see him she knew he was watching her, patiently waiting for her to speak. Waiting for her to chose exactly how much to reveal. "Raines has graciously consented for me to see my brother," she said with sarcasm. She looked up to find Sydney's warm and patient eyes on hers. Her conversation with Lyle earlier that day had been the final straw. She felt further and further adrift and the waters were becoming increasingly hostile. She needed help to find her way through it. "Would you help me with something Sydney?" she asked tentatively.

"With what?" he asked cautiously.

She took a long breath. "I want to have some tests run on the boy... and myself." Her second visit to the child had left her with the same uneasy feeling as her first visit had. So had the third and at that point she had known it had nothing to do with Lyle's company. It could have been her inner sense, and she supposed it was, but the fact was that the doubts were there.

"You don't believe he's your brother," Sydney said carefully.

"Something like that." She wanted to tell Sydney of all her suspicions but she could barely say the words out loud to herself. Just as she'd never confided in Sydney, or anyone else for that matter, when Jarod had first suggested that she may not be Mr Parker's daughter, this was another secret she'd bear alone. Especially as this time her own paternity could be the least of her worries.

Sydney watched her closely, feeling a little unsettled. "What exactly are you hoping to find Miss Parker?"

She smiled at his perceptiveness but she couldn't hold on to it. "Answers," she replied, the smile quickly fading into a frown.

He continued to watch her closely, apprehension beginning to settle on him. He feared for her, for asking such questions, but he knew he'd help her - whatever the consequences. If he could be there for her - if she would allow him to be - maybe that would help. Because she would go ahead with or without him. And she had come to him. "Are you prepared for the answers?"

She sighed softly, "Yes." The word came out with more conviction than she felt. She was certain she had just signed her own death warrant.


	4. Reasonable Faith

i) Thanks to pretender, OriginalProxy, leochick, and Max for reviewing the last part. Hope you all haven't given up on this just yet.

ii) Sorry for the delay, I've had some major problems with my computer - evidently a loud 'pop', followed by smoke, is not a good sign...

iii) 'And it's not for our desires but our design, that we all fall apart' ('The Leavers Dance, The Veils)

No Distance Left To Run

Chapter Four

Reasonable Faith

The pounding of her heart seemed interminably loud, as if it echoed off the walls of the long, narrow corridor and could somehow alert the entire building of her location. She adjusted her ear piece and whispered an impatient question to the man at the other end. Sequestering Broots' help once more had been relatively easy; she'd only had to endure a minute's worth of babbling hesitancy from her colleague before he ceded. Like Sydney he had expressed concerns at her proposal but he hadn't refused her. Waiting for the go ahead from Broots she thought about her good fortune at being grouped with the two men; it could have been a lot worse, she could have been lumbered with Lyle.

"A couple more minutes Miss Parker and I'll have it," Broots' voice soothed into her ear.

She remained still, hidden in the shadows and tried to remain patient. She hadn't trusted Lyle from the very beginning but his recent behaviour had disturbed her further; pushing for her to see their brother, for the visits to continue, then warning her about Alex. His reasons for doing so weren't entirely convincing but it seemed Raines was buying it - and that worried her just as much. She assumed they were still planning something, either together or singularly, because she really didn't know; either way she needed to keep on her toes. For the most part she ignored him as best as she could. She maintained her outward desire in pursuing Jarod but kept up her visits to the boy, albeit not as regularly as she'd have liked. In a way she was heeding the warning Lyle had issued on her intitial visit.

"We're all set Miss Parker."

Taking a deep breath she headed towards her brother's quarters. Through the first door she ran into the only nurse she knew would be left on duty. Every Wednesday Raines, and Lyle, held a briefing with the boy's team of 'carers' and the old wheezebag had the staff go to him, leaving behind one junior nurse. A nurse who smoked. A nurse three quarters of the way through her shift and not due a break for some time. She pasted on a smile. "Hi," she said sweetly to the younger woman and was met with instant suspicion.

"Miss Parker? Back so soon?" the nurse asked, rising from her position behind the desk.

Miss Parker kept smiling. "Just wanted to check in on him, he seemed a little out of sorts this morning," she lied easily.

"Oh. He's sleeping now," the nurse replied a little sceptically, glancing at the door that led to the boy.

"I won't be a second," Miss Parker pursued. As the younger woman contemplated the request, she went for the kill. "You look like you could do with a break," she said sympathetically. This seemed to put the other woman at ease.

"A cigarette would do."

Miss Parker grinned. "I remember that feeling well," she admitted, "Why don't you get away now for one." Centre policy allotted designated rooms to smoke in and nowhere else, Raines himself could be found there on occasion, no cigarette in hand merely taking deep breaths - as deeply as he could at any rate.

"Mr Raines wouldn't be happy."

"I won't tell him if you don't," she prodded. The other woman seemed to deliberate the proposal for an eternity, glancing at the door to the boy then at the exit.

"I'll only be a couple of minutes," she said hurriedly, making he way to the exit.

"Okay," Miss Parker said, still smiling. "Take your time," she said to the back of the door.

Moving swiftly into the main room she couldn't see the child. Every morning she had visited he was dressed and waiting for her in his 'pen'. Sydney's voice whispered into her ear that the child was in the next room. Broots had looped the feed but both he and Sydney could still observe what was really happening. She moved into the smaller room, her heart finally evening out when she saw him. Though she still had feelings of unease around the boy, for the most part they were superceded by her growing attachment to him.

She ran a gentle hand across his cheek, the soft skin warm and familiar, and allowed herself to smile. He roused at her touch and she quickly picked him up despite knowing both Broots and Sydney were watching. She was used to having an audience, had felt Lyle's scrutiny on occasion. He would stand by the door, silently watching, waiting. The only words spoken would be the ones to announce her time was over. She doubted Syd would let her off so lightly.

"Hey there," she whispered softly, "You weren't expecting me back so soon were you?" He gave her a wide grin, a sleepy expression on his face and she melted a little more. Settling him in one arm she used the other to extract the swab from her pocket; there was nothing high tech about it, it was the kind of thing sold to fathers over the internet who doubted the paternity of their children and wanted to know for sure without the mother ever being aware. She could sympathise entirely with that.

"I need you to open your mouth," she began, "like this." She opened her own mouth to demonstrate, eliciting a giggle from him. Using her thumb and forefinger she opened the swab in a one swift movement. "Your turn," she smiled.

He complied, watching her closely as she gently ran the swab along the inside of his mouth. She continued to smile at him as she completed her task; there was no doubt in her mind that the boy was intelligent, she could see that every time she visited him. She was in no doubt that Raines was aware of this fact too which did not bode well for the child's future. It also, in a way, made her covert trip redundant; whatever the outcome of the DNA analysis she had already decided that she wasn't going to allow the boy to grow up at The Centre.

"All done," she told him as she manouvered the cover back over the swab and returned it to her pocket.

The boy smiled at her; an innocent, trusting, beautiful smile.

For a second those dark thoughts pervaded her head once more and she wondered if it was too late to call the whole thing off. Once it was done there would be no going back.

"Uh... Miss Parker," Broots coughed nervously into her ear.

She sighed softly. "I've got to go," she whispered to the child, causing his smile to vanish. "I'll be back tomorrow," she apologised quickly, dropping a kiss onto his forehead, "Promise."

He leant into her, wrapping his arms around her neck and snuggling into her chin.

Broots coughed into her ear again, mumbling another warning.

She rubbed her hand up and down the infant's back, "I don't want to leave either but I have to go." She felt his arms slowly relinquish their hold as he drew back from her, a solemn look upon his face. She reluctantly lowered him back into his cot, her heart aching as she did so. She would let Sydney run the test. There had already been too many lies in her life and though ignorance had been bliss the truth, when it eventually came out, though hurtful, had been for the best.

* * *

Though the sun hung weakly in the sky it still had enough power to cast a long shadow which fell over him and the grave he tended. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't show," Sydney said, rising as quickly as his joints would let him and turning around to face his visitor.

"I had my reservations," the younger man replied honestly, "but here I am." He accompanied the last three words with the relevant hand gestures though his mouth was set in a grim line.

Sydney couldn't stop the warm smile from gracing his face despite Jarod's cool demeanour. He had tried to contact the pretender several times in the last few weeks but had received no response. Jarod seemed to be distracted by something. "How are you Jarod? You've been so quiet lately," he asked beginning to frown.

"I've been busy Sydney," Jarod offered flatly.

Sydney nodded his acknowledgement. "Looking for your answers."

"Something like that," Jarod muttered, looking away.

Intrigued by the younger man's subdued behaviour Sydney pressed on, ignoring the reason why he had contacted Jarod to begin with. "Miss Parker showed me a very interesting snapshot," he said, casting his line.

"Is that what this is about Sydney?" Jarod asked, keeping his voice as neutral as he could and returning the older man's scrutiny. "I don't have any answers, if I did Miss Parker would know."

"It's not Jarod. It does concern Miss Parker though." He noted the slightest flicker of emotion from his visitor.

Jarod sighed wearily, "So you said. What has she done now?"

"She's been visiting her brother - the child Brigette bore Mr Parker." The information drew the first real trace of a smile from Jarod.

"Miss Parker and children?" he mused out loud.

Sydney smiled at the statement. "She's been to see him quite a few times but whatever her reasons for doing so initially she has now grown doubtful of the boy's paternity. She doesn't believe he is her brother."

Jarod frowned and shook his head, expelling a long sigh. "That wouldn't surprise me Sydney: nothing at The Centre is ever what it seems."

"I'm inclined to agree with you both that's why I agreed to help her have the relevant DNA tests run - of course all this needs to be done under The Centre's radar."

"That's where I come in," Jarod concluded.

Sydney nodded in response. "I can't think of anyone more independent," he urged.

There was a long moment of silence as Jarod comtemplated the situation. "She doesn't know you're doing this, does she?" he asked gravely.

"No," Sydney answered honestly, "She asked me for help and I told her I would do what I could."

Jarod chewed on his bottom lip, considering Sydney's request further but the answer was always going to be yes. The minute he'd read Sydney's e-mail and he'd known Miss Parker was involved he was always going to turn up - no matter how much he procrastinated over it. "She won't be happy - with either of us - when she finds out." He knew how much it ate at her if he knew the answers before she did, at times he wondered if that fact hurt more than the truth ever did.

"She did not give me any restrictions Jarod. Besides, she need never know." Whilst Miss Parker believed he was on his way to the West coast to have the tests run, he'd actually holed up at his cabin, pinning all his hopes on Jarod turning up. He was glad he had, this way he might be able to help them both.

Jarod sighed deeply and looked first at Jacob's grave then past Sydney into the distance. He tried to convince himself to walk away but now that he knew what she was up to he couldn't. That need to watch over her, to help her, and even to protect her on the rare occasions she needed assistance won out. "The answers never seem to be what she wants to hear Sydney. What if the child is not her brother?"

Sydney frowned at the question which mirrored his own initial concerns. He recalled the distracted manner with which she had passed his the samples, how she had thanked him but how her voice had revealed her apprehension. "I suspect she's already convinced the child is not her brother."

"She's not letting herself get attached to him?"

"On the contrary, she adores him."

Jarod could only nod slowly. Despite Sydney's words he didn't want to be the one to shatter her world once more, albeit indirectly. He let his eyes roam his surroundings, his eyes falling on Jacob's grave. "Do you ever wonder if we would all have been better off had I never left The Centre?" he asked quietly.

"No," Sydney answered quickly. At last he was on the road to what had been preying on Jarod's mind.

He stared at Sydney. "I do. What have I really achieved? How much closer am I to the truth now than when I escaped? Each time one question is answered another one just pops up in its place."

"What about all the people you've helped? The families you've put back together?"

Jarod's gaze fell back to the floor. "Like you Sydney? Has my digging into your past been worth it? Or Miss Parker's?"

"Jarod," Sydney coaxed softly, making the pretender look back up, "It's better to know the truth than to live a lie. I know that and so does Miss Parker - you've taught her that. And that's what we were all doing before you escaped, living under many lies."

"And what about me Sydney?" he asked softly. "I escaped to find my family, to find out who I am - but I'm no closer to either." He sighed softly, lowering his voice further. "The family I have found I can't be with. Just contacting them puts their lives at risk - and mine too," he argued softly, echoing Alex's words, words that had plagued him ever since they'd been spoken. "They were safer when I was at The Centre. I can't keep a relationship with anyone I meet without putting their lives at risk too." He thought of Nia, of Zoe, of all the friends he had made only to be lost as quickly as they'd been gained. "In the end I'm alone Sydney, as much as I ever was at The Centre."

Sydney wanted to cross the small divide and comfort Jarod with more than just words but he didn't; he'd never been able to. "You're not alone Jarod. And you're free - more than The Centre would ever allow."

For a long moment there was silence between the two men, an understanding entrenched over thirty years previously flooded to the surface. Jarod smiled at the man who had been his mentor, his friend, his father figure, thankful for his words. "Miss Parker won't give up will she?" he asked, steering the conversation back towards its original topic.

"She has a certain tenacity, I'll agree. Not unlike someone else I know."

Jarod's smile faltered but he nodded his acknowledgement to Sydney. He was fairly certain that Miss Parker was the stronger of them both.

* * *

He was in his office early that morning, long before any other Centre worker not languishing on the night shift had come in. Most of The Centre's workers, blissfully unaware of the true nature of their employer's work but still sensing the undercurrent of its direction, stuck rigidly to their allotted hours, not wanting to spend anymore time there than they had to. There were exceptions: Sydney being one. But this morning, Lyle was even in before the older man. He'd passed by the psychiatrist's office expecting to see the occupant sat behind his desk - the man seemed to live at The Centre. His absence allowed Lyle to have a quick poke around Sydney's office but he found nothing of interest there. Leaving the room exactly as he'd found it he wandered slowly about The Centre's corridors, not sure of his destination but he found himself heading in the general direction of Miss Parker's office. Suddenly finding himself outside her door he took a quick inspection of his sister's office too, again turning up nothing of interest. And no indication of which direction she was heading.

Back at his own desk he shuffled the papers on his desk distractedly, reports concerning the latest intelligence on Jarod's whereabouts. The information contained didn't amount to much; Jarod, for whatever reasons, was keeping his head down and without the pretender's usual hints and taunts there was little Lyle could do to get a location on him. However Lyle's current distraction had very little to do with the pretender.

He rose to his feet, letting them guide him once again to the small child he had recently grown accustomed to. He had accompanied Miss Parker on several of her visits to the boy and with each visit he became a little more unsettled, a little more unsure.

As he made his way to the boy he thought of those visits with Parker. He got a kick out of annoying her by merely being present but he knew there was more to it than that. With each successive trip he became ever more certain that she knew yet she never commented as such. There was no outward change to her demeanour, to all intents and purposes she was the same Miss Parker. But, for ten minutes he got to see a completely different side to the Ice Queen. And he liked it. He found he enjoyed their trips as much as she did, he liked to watch her with the child. He almost enjoyed it as much as their verbal sparring.

He breezed past the Doctor, another Centre worker who seemed to live there - and one who had long since resigned herself to these interruptions - and into the boy's quarters. In one of the smaller rooms he found the child already awake and sat up in his cot, almost as if he was expecting his visitor.

"Couldn't sleep either, huh?" he muttered as he walked over to the cot, the boy watching his movements with interest. Lyle crouched down so he was eye level with the boy to find the child staring straight back. In his hands he held onto the stuffed teddy bear that Miss Parker had insisted on giving the boy on their second visit. The act had caused a ripple of concern amongst the staff 'raising' him but the boy had refused to relinquish his gift and Lyle had ensured he'd held on to it.

Lyle smiled, the smile that could get him out of most situations, in an attempt to disrupt the boy's quiet scrutiny. It didn't work; the boy was as sceptical as Parker was - he knew she didn't completely buy his motivations and he couldn't fault her for that. Her visits to the boy were taking up as much of his own time as they were hers; far from having her out of the way and distracted from the chase, she was as dedicated as ever yet he found himself increasingly diverted. The obvious answer was to let the boy's carers supervise but he found himself reluctant to give up those few minutes of the day that he'd found himself looking forward to.

"You don't buy it either, do you?" he said softly to the boy, dropping his smile. The only response he received was a slight tilt of the small head to one side. Lyle breathed out slowly and lowered his head. He let his thoughts wander for a few seconds and found them returning to Miss Parker and her visits to the boy. Did she really suspect? He tried to recall every moment he had spent with her in the hopes of spotting a gesture, or a word, that had given her away but there had been nothing. She was as cool as ever around him. The sticking point, he ceded, was that even if she did begin to suspect something he would be the last person, with the possible exception of Raines, that she'd confide in. Sydney however, and perhaps even Broots, would be a safer bet. He drew his head back up to find the boy smiling at him and, for some reason, he felt strangely confident.


	5. Closer Than Near

i) Thanks to NYT, Jar-Par fan, Dana, NG and Leochick for their reviews. On we go, despite further computer problems.

No Distance Left To Run

Chapter Five

Closer Than Near

From the outside the house was in darkness; a cold, empty shell that she liked to think of as home. A place where she felt closer to her mother, to her childhood, to a time when her life was so much simpler. And fuller. The house was a reflection of herself; empty, cold, uninviting. The way she let it be. She slid the key into the lock effortlessly, entering the building just as smoothly. Once inside she turned to close the door, locking it once more. She pressed her hand against the cool wood, in the darkness that filled the room she could almost pretend that nothing was happening. That her father wasn't laying comatose, still withholding her answers. That Ethan, a brother she had only recently met, was missing. That Lyle, a brother she had the misfortune to know, wasn't skulking around The Centre and herself, undoubtedly up to something. And that her youngest brother may not be just that.

"Parker."

She didn't react immediately, caught between surprise and disbelief, until the owner of the voice finally registered: Jarod. "What do you want?" she tried to demand, but her voice didn't quite reach the apex of disdain she was aiming for and most of the sharpness was lost by the fact that she spoke against the door. She was only slightly aware of her gun which was holstered at her back; an instinct buried deep inside her urged her to draw her weapon but she held back.

In the silence that followed she could just make out his soft footsteps, mentally tracing his movements as he walked towards her. Not too close though, that would be dangerous for them both. She heard the click of the lamp switch and the room was illuminated in a soft glow, her shadow falling onto the door in front of her and leaving her nowhere to hide. With a small sigh she finally turned to face him. There was enough illumination to make out his features; he looked tired, almost as tired as she felt, yet his face was unusually blank. She held her breath.

He stared at her for a moment, the words that were on the tip of his tongue disappearing. She looked so much thinner, more drawn, than the last time he'd seen her yet her eyes flashed with determination. "We need to talk," he said softly.

It may have been the gentle tone of his voice, or it could have been the realisation that he was standing there in her house as if he had every right, but she suddenly felt her anger rise. "What? No phone calls at three a.m.? No half assed clues to drag me three quarters of the way around the country for nothing?"

He sighed wearily. "I couldn't tell you this over the phone, Parker."

Her anger disappeared as quickly as it had arrived and he knew then that its appearance had been part of her defense mechanism; whenever Jarod tried to show her the truth her anger reared its head in an effort to protect the status quo. "This isn't about that photograph, is it?" she said quietly.

"No."

She found herself nodding, not particularly at Jarod but more at herself; she'd asked Sydney for his help and now it was clear he'd called in the cavalry. She didn't even deliberate on how Sydney was able to contact the pretender. "I need a drink," she announced softly, taking the few steps required to reach the decanter, and closer to Jarod. She stepped out of her shoes and poured a liberal amount of alcohol into a glass, feeling his eyes on her all the while. She looked ahead rather than at him, nervously biting her lower lip.

"Parker," Jarod chided, breaking the silence. He'd waited long enough as it was, sitting there in the dark, listening to every car drive past with a growing sense of nausea. Every noise had been closely scrutinised, identified, and thankfully dismissed as innocuous to satisfy his heightened sense of danger. Every minute had felt like an hour and there had been very little he could do except wait. The last time he'd been in her home, and that hadn't been so long ago, he'd walked away free. He was prepared for a different outcome this time.

She refused to look at him. She knew what he was going to tell her; there was no other reason he would be there in person. She swallowed hard; her world was about to crumble, to be ripped away from her, and there was nothing she could do - Jarod wouldn't let her ignore the truth, he never did. With her free hand she slowly drew her weapon.

Jarod tensed as he eyed the gun hanging loosely in her hand. The silence continued as he drew his eyes back to her, waiting for her to make her choice.

She sighed softly, feeling the weight of the gun one more time in her hand before placing it down in front of her. Taking her glass with her she headed for the couch, retracing some of her steps into the room to avoid him. "You'd better spit it out Jarod," she said, settling herself into the corner of the sofa that was furthest away from him, tucking her feet underneath her. If her instincts, her inner sense, had been right then she didn't trust her legs to do their job and support her.

It was a moment before he could find his voice; she'd not even pointed her gun at him and though this was something he'd spent years trying to achieve it felt an empty victory. He adjusted his stance once more to face her taking a deep breath. "Sydney asked me-"

"The point Jarod," she interrupted, unable to bear the wait any longer, "What did the tests reveal?" She swirled the liquid in her glass absently, her stomach already in turmoil, and knowing she wouldn't touch a drop. She moved her gaze to his when he remained silent.

He watched her closely, those beautiful eyes now staring into his. That determination, that strength he so admired, sparkled. "He's not your brother," he said softly. She breathed out slowly and then nodded as if he was merely making everyday conversation rather than shattering illusions. There was a long silence before she responded.

"And?", she whispered.

He opened his mouth to speak but stopped, the next sentence sticking in his throat. He'd stared at the results himself for some time, his surprise not resulting from the confirmation that the boy wasn't her brother; even if Mr Parker had managed to father the boy, he was certain that the old man was not Parker's father. His surprise had been that she was in fact related to the boy and in the closest possible way. She continued to stare at him, for once patiently waiting, but he noted that her hand gripped the glass a little harder, long fingers wrapping ever tighter around the vessel, knuckles turning whiter.

"Jarod?" she asked, sounding more in control than she felt.

"He's your son." He waited for the explosion, for the fit of denial, but nothing came. She continued to stare at him, her face revealing the hurt she was experiencing - the same hurt he was hiding - and in that instant he found he ached to cross the small divide and comfort her. He hated The Centre in that moment, more than he had when those building blocks of life had revealed she was a mother, because he had been the one to tell her. And, because of The Centre, he was unable to comfort her - she would not accept it. Her eyes held his for a second longer, allowing him more of a glimpse of herself than she had for a long time, before darting away.

She stared blankly at the glass in her hand, having almost forgotten it was there. Placing it down on the table she inhaled slowly. The overiding feeling at that moment was acceptance, she didn't doubt Jarod. The Centre hiding the boy away, Raines' initial reaction to deny her access, Sydney's astute warning, Lyle's careful observations, when she had held him; at each step, the idea had resurfaced and each time she had pushed it away, a little voice at the back of her mind that she refused to acknowledge. But the idea had persisted despite her best efforts to ignore it. Only her stubborness and unyielding ability to think the best of her 'father' had prevented her from fully acknowledging such truths out loud. She struggled to find some kind of reply but her voice had deserted her. She sat forward in her seat, feet now firmly on the ground, and began to calmly reassess her world, oblivious to Jarod's presence. There would have to be some changes made.

With the boy's maternity established, the wave of disgust Jarod had felt at The Centre's treatment of Miss Parker had given way to a sickening thought. Even as he'd tested his own blood he'd felt certain of the result - nothing was beyond The Centre. The anger had built, reaching a crescendo when the truth became evident. He flexed his right hand at the memory, feeling the pain that still lingered from his hand contacting with a brick wall at some speed. Parker still refused to look at him but, compared to his own reactions, she seemed to be taking the news considerably well. He figured that, after denial, she'd have been tearing the room apart in a rage, or at least tearing him to pieces. "You suspected," he said softly, the thought suddenly striking him.

She nodded slowly but found herelf still unable to look at Jarod. "For a few weeks now... I didn't want to believe it could be true because..." She hesitated as the main reason for her denial hit her like a truck: her father must have known. He was most likely behind it. How could he have done that to her? A pain, worse than she'd ever known, cut through her like a knife, its blade slicing indiscriminately until it felt there was nothing left except a gaping hole.

Jarod's resolution began to crumble as he watched her pain deepen further. Again he ached to comfort her but held himself in check, and quickly took back the step he had instinctively taken toward her. "It's possible he may not have known, Parker..." he blurted out, "I haven't been able to find any documentation in the Centre mainframe pertaining to... the conception." Before he had even finished the sentence he was questioning why he was trying to defend the very man who had shown little regard for anyone else - even the woman he claimed as his daughter. A man he despised for ruining both of their lives.

She smiled sadly at his words. "He must have known Jarod, he tried to pass him off as his own son." She fought hard to keep the tears that threatened to spill in place, silently willing them away with all the strength she could find. Her eyes were trained on the glass but her mind was elsewhere; on her father, on Brigette, on the day she'd unknowingly helped her own son into the world and then handed him over to The Centre.

There was another long silence as he attempted to find an argument to challenge her with, but she was right: Mr Parker must have known. Whether the old man was her father or not Jarod knew the pain of that betrayel would be just as deep for Miss Parker. The man she had loved and worshipped, and whose affection and approval she had strived to gain, had done nothing to earn such adoration. He felt a twinge of jealousy at the thought. "You should take him." After he had made a sizeable hole in the wall with his hand, the physical pain preferrable to his mental anguish - though not as persistent - his thoughts had turned to the next step: the future.

"What?" she said shakily, not sure she had heard correctly. She brought her eyes up to his and for the first time she could recall his eyes were hard. No warmth, no playfulness, no hurt, no pity. Just a hard steely gaze, not unlike the ones she dished out herself when she was lying.

"Take him and go," he reiterated.

She shook her head slightly in disbelief: it occurred to her then that he had yet to lay claim to the boy. When those fears about the boy's heritage had first surfaced she'd known that if it were true there would only be one contender for the father: Jarod. That was as much a reason to deny the possibility as anything else. "But he's your son too," she said with more uncertainty than she'd intended, "Isn't he?" She watched a flicker of emotion pass over his features for the first time.

Jarod nodded and sighed, "Yes he is." He had hoped she wouldn't entertain that idea, that she would be happy not to mention it at all.

"What about you?" she asked. She found herself nervously awaiting his answer.

"He deserves a better life than either of us had," he began, bypassing her question and laying some groundwork.

"I agree," she said quickly.

"He won't get that at The Centre," Jarod continued, pacing over to her slowly. He sat down on the table in front of her, picking up her discarded glass and moving it to one side. His first instincts had been to liberate his son immediately, yet it was more complicated than that. It was always complicated where he and Parker were concerned. She was the child's mother, he could never deprive her, or their child, of that.

His face was a little softer but his eyes were still hard and she found herself wishing they weren't - at that moment she'd have even been glad to see that all knowing twinkle in his eye. Her apprehension increased. "I know," she admitted slowly, the two words finally acknowledging The Centre's depravity, something she had always tried to ignore.

Jarod held out his arms towards her, palms up and wrists together. "You could take me back," he offered It wasn't a decision he'd come to lightly but after weighing up every angle it was the one he felt she would most likely agree with.

"What?"

"My freedom for yours. I'm sure you could wrangle some sort of adendum to your deal to include... the child. Take me back to The Centre and walk out with him. I can bide my time and escape once you're both safe."

She stared into his eyes disbelievingly and found herself lost for words. For a heartbeat she was tempted to take him up on his offer. She'd be away from The Centre, her father, Lyle. She could disappear for good... And have to tell her son that she'd condemned his father to Hell. "No," she said firmly, holding his gaze. As she spoke she caught another glimpse of some indistinguishable emotion in his eyes before he dropped his head.

"What other way is there," Jarod replied quietly, though he felt his spirits rise at her refusal - he wasn't looking forward to returning to The Centre. "He already knows you. If you were both free..."

She stared at the top of his head, a surge of anger rattling through her; how dare he try to take control of the situation. He always thought he knew the right thing to do, always tried to interfere in people's lives. "They'll never let me go Jarod, they've made that point several times - you've spent the last few years trying to tell me as much." Raines certainly wouldn't uphold the deal with her father and she was beginning to believe her father would never have honoured the deal either. "And Lyle would make sure you never saw daylight again. We'd all be trapped there." She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down; he was hurting as much as her, he had to be. Family meant everything to Jarod, as did his freedom, yet he was willing to give both up for her. "Would you really do that Jarod? For me?"

She asked the question so gently and so sincerely that he found himself drawn back up to her, searching for confirmation of what he had heard and finding it so clearly in her eyes. "For you both," he replied softly, stoppinghimself from saying more.

Miss Parker swallowed hard but was unable to stop herself from asking, "Why?"

"I'm tired Parker," he admitted. "Of running. Of being alone. Of being denied the things I want. I'm just tired of all this."

The cold in his eyes had faded and underneath she could finally see the myriad of emotions he was experiencing. Had she wanted to hear a different reason? She felt sure she had because she felt slightly dissatisfied at his answer. "Me too," she confessed quietly, reaching over to take one of his hands in hers and squeezing it reassuringly. "You always said you'd never give up Jarod."

Without taking his eyes off hers he brought his free hand to join its partner, holding on to her hand between his own. He expected her to withdraw immediately yet she didn't and as each second passed it seemed she was unlikely to. He still had trouble digesting her words; she had never even indicated previously that she was tired, she had always seemed so determined. "And you always said you'd never stop chasing me."

"Ah, but I've always been an excellent liar," she said with a sad smile. It was a skill she had practised upon herself on a regular basis. "But you've always known that, haven't you Jarod?" He stared at her for some time before replying, the first hint of lightness showing in his eyes.

"Maybe, but I was never entirely sure. Just always hopeful."

She smiled at his response, relishing the feel of his hands around her own. She sighed, "We always seem to do the hardest things together," she said softly, her voice faltering a little as she finally voiced her intentions. He'd asked the question earlier, what other way was there, and now she felt ready to answer it, "Why not this?" She only hoped Jarod would agree.

He stared quietly at her. It suddenly struck him that the one thing he wanted more than anything else was now within his reach: a family. It wasn't the family he'd spent five years trying to unite but Parker and the boy were still his family. A new family, a fresh start. His thoughts immediately turned to an image that he had denied himself of since he'd completed the tests, possibly even before then. "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "We can try can't we?"

"It'll be... complicated," he warned softly. "We don't always see eye to eye Parker."

"When we've had the same motivations we've been able to... come to some sort of agreement."

"Without ever saying as much," Jarod agreed.

She smiled briefly; "This time I am Jarod. We both want him out of there... We both want our child." There was something about his presence, his merely being there for her after everything she had said and done to alienate him that sparked a warm fire inside her. His hand began to gently caress her own and she wondered if he was aware of what he was doing. Of what he was doing to her. He muttered a response, his voice dark and husky, washing over her without her really understanding the content. Nothing else seemed important at that moment except her need to fill the hole inside her, to feel something other than pain.

Without hesitating any further she slowly leant towards him, eyes on his all the while. For a brief moment she thought he was going to deny her but to her relief he covered the last few centimetres himself and they kissed softly. It was a slow, tender kiss that only fanned the flame inside her. Pausing momentarily, their lips barely apart, that nagging insistent voice reared its head; this internal alarm warned her that it would not be a good idea to take things any further - for various reasons. But for every reason she could think of to stop she could find an answer to override them: Jarod.


	6. Lost On The Word

i)Thanks to leochick, pretender fan, desy, Annette, and NYT for dropping me a line or two.

No Distance Left To Run

Chapter Six

Lost On The Word

She woke slowly, the warm soft cocoon she was immersed in felt so heavenly she didn't want to leave. In those first moments of awareness she felt sure she never wanted to move another inch in her life. And then she remembered. The empty void that she had been so desperate to fill, that being with Jarod had filled, threatened to engulf her once more. She opened her eyes but she didn't need the visual confirmation; she could feel his arms around her, hear his heart beating against her ear. Raising her head slightly brought her into sight with those dark eyes and that disarming smile, even if it was a little less unsure than normal.

It was that smile, so uncertain in its appearance, that brought her reluctantly back to Earth with a thump. She'd always thought that he'd wanted her; that wasn't simply vanity on her part, she'd had to slam the door in his face - metaphorically speaking - several times when he'd dared to stray near the subject of feelings. Had she been wrong? It didn't matter anyway.

"We should talk" she said evenly, manouvering herself out of his arms and the bed. There was a mutual silence as she reached for her robe, feeling his eyes on her all the while. As she reached for the door she turned to face him, finding him propped up on both elbows, the sheets from the bed teasingly exposing his broad chest. She hugged her robe closer. "Downstairs" she muttered, her mind already wandering back to the previous nights events.

Walking downstairs, her thoughts still wrapped in the past, she made her way to the kitchen, switching on the perculator automatically then seeking out a chair at the table. With her head in her hands she let her mind replay, with startling clarity, the previous night; taking Jarod to her bed, having him inside her, her skin against his, his lips occasionally brushing her own, and the slow, languid, journey they'd taken, all the while his eyes never leaving hers. There'd been no words between them, they hadn't needed any; he seemed to understand just how much she needed him and she'd been certain he'd felt the same. In the cold, sobering light of day it seemed he regretted their actions - and that hurt even though she knew what had happened had been wrong. It may have felt good at the time but she should have been stronger than letting her emotions take over. Had she been thinking clearer, or listened to the warning bells, she could have prevented what was about to happen and made things a whole lot easier.

"Parker"

She ran her hands down her face, folding them across the table, before looking up to find him dressed and leaning against the counter. "What" she asked, the familiarity of the word disguised by the soft tone it came wrapped in. Staring into his eyes, indecision flickering there, she steeled herself. What for she wasn't sure; his rejection or his refusal to let the matter drop - either way she felt sure it would be difficult.

Jarod chewed his bottom lip momentarily before pushing himself away from the counter with both hands and taking a seat opposite her. Staring into the space above her head he made a decision; he wasn't being honest with her - or himself - but he didn't want to fight with her, not now. "What were we thinking" It seemed the easy way out - for her at least.

Behind her pensive expression she felt a little piece of her heart break; only a little because she had learned long ago never to invest more than that. She sighed softly; "I'm not sure we were" she whispered, looking away as she did so preferring to watch the coffee boil and trying to ignore the stabbing pain in her chest. She could feel his eyes on her again and she rose slowly, opening a cupboard and taking out two cups she set them down on the counter. "It was a mistake Jarod" she urged, her back to him. She screwed her eyes shut. This wasn't like the one night stands she had previously sought out when it would feel wrong the next day - not because some parts of society dictate such acts to be just that but because any pleasure she had found had been marred by the fact that the person she had shared that with was, basically, a stranger. With Jarod the problem was entirely different, he probably knew her better than anyone else and vice versa. If there was one man she was ever in danger of giving all of herself to, it was Jarod. She opened her eyes; she just couldn't take that risk.

He watched her pour out their drinks with careful consideration. "I agree" he said, tearing his eyes away from her to stare at the table top"We have more important things to discuss right now."

She took a deep breath before turning back round and placing his cup in front of him eliciting a small distracted 'thanks' as she retook her seat. His reply had been the answer she was hoping to hear... hadn't it? She had the distinct feeling she had just lost something very important but as Jarod had said there were more important matters at hand. "What are we going to do about our son" she asked.

Leaning forward slightly Jarod held the cup in his hand but did not take a sip. "We get him out" he said determinedly raising his eyes back to hers.

She nodded in response. The change to his demeanour was immediate; his eyes now flashed with confidence and certainty. She wanted to ask what would happen then, once he was free, how they would manage together but a small part of her again feared what his answer would be. "The sooner the better" she agreed instead, and he nodded in response.

Taking a sip of coffee she watched him closely, his eyes dropped to somewhere over her shoulder and he was lost in thought - most likely in ways to retrieve their son. She wondered if she should say something, anything, to bring him back to the present and to her because this was going to be a joint venture yet Jarod was so used to being a one man act. How would he cope with working with someone else, let alone his huntress? Ex huntress. The realisation hit her suddenly yet she knew it hadn't happened overnight; it had been a gradual change, peppered with swings to both extremes at various points but nevertheless meandering its way to her resignation, because that's what she was doing: leaving her job. Throughout this gradual decline into complicity with Jarod she had been acutely aware of her growing attraction towards him even when he annoyed her with his 'clues', even when she did or said awful things to him. But they could work together, they had proven that before. She shrugged off those thoughts, she had to think of her son now. "He doesn't even have a name."

Her voice was so soft and quiet he didn't quite hear her words. "What" he asked, his eyes now settled back on her.

"A name, he hasn't even got a name. Baby Parker is as close as they've ever came, they might as well just refer to him by whatever project name he was given." She took a quick sip of her coffee"Hell, they probably do."

Jarod stared at her for a beat. "Then give him a name" he said. Miss Parker shot him a look of surprise and he couldn't stop himself from smiling. "You're his mother Parker, pick something" he reiterated softly.

She let his eyes scrutinise her, those dark pools softening. She was struck once more by the ludicrousness, and the sadness, of their situation. What should have been an occasion to mark, to celebrate, had been tainted by The Centre - just as it had tainted her whole life. "It's not something I've ever really thought about Jarod - naming my children" she admitted"Not like this anyway."

He watched her eyes wander away from him and she was lost in her own thoughts. Something she'd said logged in his head, setting off a chilling train of thoughts and he berated himself for not thinking of it sooner. "Parker" he said waiting for her eyes to meet his again before continuing"We need to consider the possibility that he isn't the only child they've... created."

She had been so busy denying the possibility that the boy could even be her own flesh and blood that she'd never took the question any further. Her eyes strayed to the cup in her hand; usually at this point in any conversation with Jarod she would be defending The Centre, her father, her way of life. But now those times were over and such - now glaringly obvious - bad judgement calls would be consigned to her past. "Then we can't get him out yet" she said sadly, trying not to think of him trapped at The Centre and at the mercy of Raines and Lyle.

"No" Jarod agreed reluctantly"I'm not leaving anyone behind. I've already searched the mainframe but there was nothing there... There are a few other places I could try"

"You're not thinking of sneaking into The Centre are you" she interrupted.

He nodded and opened his mouth to explain further but she didn't give him a chance to.

"No" she said, her tone warning him not to argue with her. "If you get caught it's over."

"I won't get caught Parker" Jarod argued.

"We can't take that chance... I'm not going to take that chance" she said forcefully, giving into her earlier urge to put her own ideas on the table. For a second she thought he was going to refuse but his eyes softened further.

"You're so stubborn" he complained lightly.

"And you'd better get used to it."

He rubbed his thumb along the rim of his cup; he had to concede that she was making a fair point and he didn't really relish the thought of being back in The Centre if he absolutely didn't need to be. "There are some things I can do outside of The Centre" he said, neglecting to add that if had no luck that way he would be going 'over the wall' as it were; "I can start making some arrangements for the future."

"Good" she agreed, hedging around the topic of the future. "I'll keep digging from the inside" she said"As if nothing's changed." At Jarod's warning glance she added"They'll expect nothing less of me." It would be difficult to pretend especially with Lyle and Raines - their duplicity in the matter seemed obvious. She felt a growing anger at Raines for his ungracious manner in 'letting' her see her own son and as for Lyle, well that bastard had stood there and watched, knowing the truth; he probably got some sick pleasure from it. 'You do Mommy so well' The recollection of Lyle's words sprung to her mind sharply. In retrospect the comment, discarded as inoccuous at the time, now seemed significant - she just wasn't sure how to interpret it.

"Be careful" Jarod said, ignoring her unspoken warning.

A retort was on the tip of her tongue before she knew it however her eyes caught the clock on the wall. There simply wasn't time for that and she was going to have to get used to reining in her temper from now on. "I should get ready" she said, surprised at how late they'd slept"Don't want to give the game away already."

Jarod took a long gulp of his coffee, finding it still warm, as she rose slowly. His eyes strayed over Parker one more time, her gown wrapped around her slender frame, revealing the taut body beneath. He snapped his eyes away, cursing his lack of restraint as his thoughts turned to the previous night. She was at the counter topping up her coffee before his head had cleared and he could look at her again. "Will you see him today"

Turning to face him she said softly"Yes. I think I need to."

"Will you... " he paused and sighed quietly, the words seeming small and ineffective.

"I will" she nodded. His eyes bore into hers with such intensity and she was reminded of that 'connection' she'd felt less than twelve hours ago. Suddenly conscious of that she averted her eyes from his.

He stood smoothly, reluctantly taking his cue to leave. "I'd better go - I'm supposed to be meeting Sydney. He'll want to know the... outcome."

She nodded, giving him her consent. "And tell him to get his ass back to The Centre a.s.a.p."

Jarod nodded. "I'll be in touch." He turned and took a step towards the door.

"Jarod" she said suddenly, causing him to stop and turn back to her. She took a long breath; "Finn... his name is Finn" she said a little hesitantly. He nodded again, smiling as he did so.

* * *

Sydney stared at the floor, it seemed preferrable to facing the young man in front of him, to staring once more into the haunted eyes of Jarod, and feeling guilty. He felt to blame, a sense of guilt more ravenous than he'd ever encountered before pushed down at his shoulders. He'd done all he could to help Jarod, to protect him; whether it was during The Centre years or since the pretender's escape, every action, every word, had been carefully prepared and thought out. Yet for all his endeavours he couldn't prevent what had happened, he hadn't even seen it coming - though he doubted he would have done anything even then. He had known of Project Gemini, of the proposals and the possibilities at least; the rumours, when they'd came, he'd shrugged off as just that. And he knew how much the outcome of that project had hurt Jarod - and how much he was hurting now.

And he hadn't been able to protect Miss Parker either. He thought back to that lunch he'd shared with her less than a month ago and of that beautiful smile he'd witnessed; even then he'd thought there would be a bumpy ride ahead for her, he just hadn't imagined the pot hole would be so big. How had The Centre managed to keep the whole thing so quiet? How had Mr Parker been able to condone such a thing then carry it out practically under Miss Parker's nose"How is Miss Parker" he finally asked, daring to draw his eyes upwards.

"Taking the news better than I did" Jarod admitted.

He nodded slowly, slightly relieved that he wouldn't have to be the one to tell her. "What happens next" he asked carefully.

"We get him out" Jarod said determinedly.

"If there is anything I can do..." Sydney offered, garnering a small smile from his protege. He knew how desperate he had felt when Nicholas had been kidnapped; the urge to do something, anything, was better than doing nothing - even if doing nothing was exactly the right thing to do. "Do you have something in mind"

Jarod shook his head; "I have a few ideas but Parker and I need to be sure that he is the only one... That he has no other siblings in there."

"Then we carry on as normal for now"

"Parker wants you back at The Centre as soon as possible."

Sydney nodded and sighed softly, contemplating his next words. He was going to lose them both, that was obvious to him, but had they fully considered their actions? He had always wondered about them both; as children they were as thick as thieves, as adults they bickered as children would, albeit in a more dangerous manner, chasing and teasing each other across the continent, yet there was always some sort of understanding between them that certain things were 'above' this - the most recent being Ethan. He'd had to hide his surprise when Miss Parker had let Jarod walk away from her house even after Jarod had returned her gun. "Jarod, have you and Miss Parker discussed what the consequences will be if you take the boy" Those dark eyes flashed at the question.

"As opposed to the consequences of leaving him at The Centre" Jarod said angrily, rising to his feet and pacing away to look out of the window, his back now to Sydney.

Sydney watched the younger man quietly. He had no doubt that, given enough motive, Jarod and Miss Parker could work together to their advantage, however he wasn't sure how long such a unity could last or how strongly it would stand up to the rigours of parenthood.

"I know it's going to be... complicated" Jarod said, hating that word so much. He'd used it too many times to describe his relationship with Parker and it never felt adequate - now more so than ever. He closed his eyes ignoring the view outside - he had a much better one ingrained in his mind; her body against his own, holding her in his arms, and those beautiful, pale eyes that he could get himself lost in too easily if she would just let him. Yet, inevitably, the memories followed on to earlier that morning when he'd woken to find her asleep in his arms, and to the wave of panic that had quickly ousted those initial feelings of joy. He'd remained as still as he could, fearing any movement would wake her and hasten the inevitable. He'd spent the next hour trying to second guess her reaction and dealing with his own feelings of guilt, moving only slightly to flick off her alarm in an effort to delay the inevitable that bit longer. He'd felt sure she would regret what had happened and he blamed himself to an extent, despite Parker being the protagonist the night before. She'd been upset, vulnerable, in need of a friend and he'd taken advantage of that.

Jarod turned back round. "But we want the same thing Sydney, what's best for our son."

"Is that all you want Jarod" As the younger man's eyes dropped quickly to the floor Sydney knew all he needed to.

Jarod reclaimed his seat still ignoring Sydney's gaze. He wanted her. He'd wanted her the previous night and he'd wanted her for a long time before then, that's why he'd given in to her so easily. But now that desire was tainted with guilt. His thoughts turned back to her again; she had said what had happened between them was a mistake but she hadn't actually blamed him. He didn't feel any better for that but something else occurred to him at that moment: that night she had also admitted to being an excellent liar. Had she been doing just that this morning?

* * *

"But I already looked" Broots said, following Miss Parker into the large expanse of one the SIM labs. "I couldn't find anything."

Miss Parker stopped suddenly, causing Broots to almost walk into her. "But this time I want you to cross reference with myself" she said quietly.

"Okay..." he replied"Why"

She stared at him for a moment. She trusted Broots, as much as she trusted Sydney, yet this was the first time she'd be telling someone she was a mother. She thought of Finn, of her visit to him earlier that morning; now that she was no longer denying the truth the few minutes she had spent with him had affected her more than before. Her usual concern at leaving him there had multiplied greatly. She looked around the room cautiously before replying. "He's my son, not my brother" she admitted quietly.

"Oh my God" Broots finally managed to get out.

"No, just The Centre pretending to be."

Despite her perfectly made up face she couldn't hide the hurt from showing through and Broots felt for her. A quiet wave of anger on her behalf rumbled through him, he knew The Centre was capable of many things but this seemed... Incomprehensible. He had always known that in The Centre's eyes he was dispensible - that much had been proved when they'd thought he was a leak - but he had never imagined they would cross such lines with Miss Parker. "Who's... his father" Broots asked. She paused slightly before answering.

"Jarod" she said softly.

Broots shook his head. "I can't believe they did this... What about your father"

She crossed her arms in front of her"I'd bet my last dollar that my father was complicit in the whole thing."

He shook his head again - he didn't know what to say to her at that point. How could a father do that to his daughter? Why would Mr Parker do it"I gotta get out of here" he finally mumbled.

"That may be the smartest thing you've ever said Broots. Do it - I don't intend to stick around here any longer than I have to, neither should you."

Broots nodded, he'd already started to make some rudimentary plans to leave anyway. He'd do this one last thing for her then go. "What are you going to do Miss Parker"

She was about to answer him when the door from which they'd entered opened and she quickly bit her tongue.

"So this is where you've been hiding" Lyle said as he sauntered further into the room.

Broots watched the icy demeanour cloud her face at the sound of Lyle's voice, marvelling at her capacity to change to her surroundings when neccesary; he wished he had an iota of that ability. He could never play the word games, the mind games, that prevailed at The Centre - he was just too honest. He even felt bad keeping things from Mr Raines or Lyle, usually at Miss Parker's request, even when he knew there was a very valid reason for doing so. Plus, he was a really bad liar. It was with this in mind that he excused himself from the room, promising Miss Parker that he would get right on with the search.

"The search" Lyle asked, intrigued, once Broots had left.

"For Jarod" she answered coldly. "What do you want Lyle" she asked, thankful that up until then she'd managed to avoid him that morning; if he had been there when she'd visited Finn she felt certain she'd have been unable to stop herself from, at the very least, decking him. Especially if he had that smug grin he was currently wearing.

"Working on a tip on Jarod are we" he asked innocently, whilst edging ever closer to her.

Miss Parker smiled through clenched teeth. She took a step forward to him closing the gap between them"You'll be the first to know when I find him, believe me. I'll enjoy nothing more than rubbing your nose in your failure."

He smiled. "Let's see if you catch him first." She only glared in response, a cold glare that he felt he had no chance of piercing through. He took a step backwards, still smiling, before turning and starting to walk away. He took a couple of steps then paused. "By the way" he began, turning back around to face her"Where's Sydney"

"Series of lectures on twins. Due back tonight."

He nodded his head slowly, her curt reply saying more than the words she'd actually used; Sydney wasn't wherever she claimed, of that he was sure. So what was he really doing? And who was he helping out"Things really are quiet around here" he said, turning back around and almost bumping into Angelo. "Where the Hell did you come from" he asked, stepping back slightly. He got no response and looking over his shoulder he got a similarly blank look from Parker.

Angelo merely grinned at Lyle.

Lyle shook his head but Angelo's intense stare and alarming grin bore into him. Had Angelo been capable of any kind of coherent speech Lyle felt that right then he would be saying: 'I know'. He suddenly felt very naked. He cleared his throat, pushing past the other man and headed for the door, the feeling staying with him long after he'd left the room.

Unfolding her arms she took the few steps needed to reach Angelo. "What was that all about Angelo" His smile faded as she asked the question.

"Daughter worried."

"Yes" she agreed"And you know why don't you" Angelo didn't reply.

* * *

She sat in the dark of her car, the engine switched off. Parked on her drive she could see her house and it looked as cold and as empty as it always did. She briefly wondered if she would find Jarod there, as she had the night before. Twenty four hours ago her life had been completely different, yet to all intents and purposes everything had remained the same - which had made leaving The Centre that evening extremely difficult. Knowing her son was still in there but not able to do anything about it just yet had tore at her.

She took a deep fortifying breath, she could be patient, she could wait - she'd done so before when Tommy had been murdered. Finn was reasonably safe for now compared to some of the horrors she had seen at The Centre but time would not be on her side. They obviously had plans for her son, a child of two red files would be expected of great things. And that had to be the reason they'd created him, hadn't it?

Stepping quickly out of the car she made her way to the house still distracted by her thoughts. As she let herself inside she didn't notice the figure standing in the far corner, almost concealed by the darkness. Locking the door behind her it was only when she switched on the lamp nearest to her that she became aware of his presence, recognising the young man immediately. "Ethan"


	7. Treading Water

i) Big thanks to Ice Queen, Leochick, and a reader. I just can't seem to update any quicker - I tend to procrastinate over each chapter too much... Sorry.

No Distance Left To Run

Chapter Seven

Treading Water

"Did Jarod send you?" Miss Parker asked, having patiently waited 'til Ethan had finished his sandwich. She herself had made do with a cup of coffee. She'd been unable to offer Ethan anything more substantial and she made a mental note to address ths issue but quickly discarded it, it seemed likely she wouldn't be around for much longer anyway, there seemed little point in stocking up.

Ethan shook his head in the negative, still chewing on the last mouthful of his meal.

She left her cup on the counter and took a seat next to her youngest brother. Her second guest in twenty four hours had only added to her concerns. He had said very little since she'd found him there less than half an hour ago though, she recalled, he had been the same last time she'd seen him. He'd let her hug him, shyly returning the gesture and answering her questions on his well being with a soft 'OK'. His quietness had only been broken by the rumbling of his stomach. "Where have you been Ethan? I got back and you were gone, a half finished note that made little sense," she blurted out, unable to hold back any longer.

"Sorry," Ethan apologised, dropping his eyes slightly. "I didn't mean to make you worry." He received the faintest trace of a smile from his sister.

"It's okay, just don't do it again."

He smiled at her light hearted warning, before taking a deep breath. "There wasn't time to do anything else, you were in danger. You and Jarod both."

"Your inner sense," Miss Parker said softly, her smile fading.

Ethan nodded, watching a sad expression flutter across her face briefly. "It led me to you and Jarod; I was just in time to see Jarod and Alex above the water - to see Alex fall." He shrugged, recalling the memory of that day. "And then I saw Alex resurface further downstream."

"Alex is alive," she whispered disbelievingly. Lyle had told her as much but she'd never put much stock in what he said, his warning had been half forgotten amongst everything else that was happening - besides, there had been no sign of Alex. Immediately, and despite all that had happened, her thoughts turned to her father; Mr Parker, lying unconscious in The Centre, was an open target - would Alex try to finish what he'd started?

"I followed him for a few days," Ethan began, before realising she wasn't listening, "Miss Parker?"

She snapped out of her thoughts, thoughts that had now turned to her son - and Jarod. And on how far would Alex take his revenge. "Where is he now?"

Ethan frowned. "I'm not sure. I lost track of him," he apologised. He'd relied too much upon her voice to guide him as he had little experience of surveillance. When Catherine's voice had become silent - which had been almost immediately - the trail had effectively gone cold. He hadn't even been sure why he was following Alex only that, after what Jarod had told him and the subsequent events, Alex was dangerous; especially where his new family was concerned. And he was reluctant to return to them so soon. "After a while she led me back to you."

"Shit." It was the only word she could manage. The news hit her harder than the revelation of Finn's parentage. If Alex was in Blue Cove there would be no time to waste, she had to get her son out of there and them both as far away as possible. On the other hand there was Jarod and, quite possibly, other children. She didn't like the choices laid out in front of her. "She led you here for a reason Ethan, Alex must be close."

He knew she was right. Their mother's voice had been silent for some weeks, leaving him alone for the first time in his life - but it was time enough to process everything that had happened and to try to come to terms with his own lineage. And then she'd appeared again, softly whispering that it was time to return to Miss Parker, that she would need him. "I don't sense any danger," he offered, "Not like before anyway."

Miss Parker smiled reassuringly at Ethan but she was already fearing the worst. She took his plate and standing, walked to the counter. It was an automatic reaction, her mind was elsewhere. "I need to tell Jarod," she said, turning to face Ethan once more.

Ethan rubbed at his eyes tiredly; "I thought you were supposed to take him back?"

"I was," she said sadly, before retaking her seat at Ethan's side. He stared at her expectantly, dark eyes so like Jarod's reminding her how screwed up her family tree was. "I need to tell you about your nephew." It was going to be a long night.

* * *

"The boy is a distraction."

"But nothing more," Lyle countered the old man, crossing one leg over the other, "I told you there was nothing to worry about." He stated the last sentence smugly but really he was quite disappointed. He'd dropped several digs in that respect yet his sister didn't seem to bite; he was beginning to worry that time was running out and all his efforts would be to no avail. Sydney's absence was the only thing that could be construed as 'revealing'; surely he had to be running some errand for Miss Parker?

"If she is distracted from the pursuit of Jarod there is a problem," Raines shouted angrily.

Lyle dropped his leg back down, adjusting his body language but remaining calm. "I'll find Jarod, that's not a problem, if Miss Parker is losing her focus."

Raines glowered at the younger man, studying him carefully. He suspected Lyle's reason for pushing for his sister to be allowed to see the boy had more to do with distracting her than anything else. With Miss Parker out of the way Lyle probably thought Jarod was all his. He liked that a lot, ambition, ruthlessness - cold and calculated - could get the right man a very long way. "I want Jarod back at The Centre where he belongs," he reiterated firmly.

Lyle nodded obediently, dropping in a reassuring smile as well. "Absolutely." He excused himself as quickly as he could, the conversation apparently over, dropping the smile only once he was past Willy who was standing on sentry duty outside of the office. He was going to have to be more direct.

* * *

Her first port of call was Sydney. She made her way to his office without even bothering to check in at her own first and she walked in without knocking, closing the door shut behind her. She glanced at Sydney, an expression of concern already creasing his brow, then around the small room before speaking. "How was your trip? Learn anything interesting?" she asked as casually as she could.

Sydney smiled sadly, placing his pen upon the paperwork he had been browsing through. "Interesting and... Very revealing," he said measuredly, acknowledging the hidden question.

She nodded and took the few short steps toward his desk, sitting down on the chair opposite him. At least she could be certain that Jarod had made it to Sydney's cabin, though his whereabouts were still unknown. She had mentally kicked herself the previous night when it had become apparent neither she nor Ethan had the means of getting in touch with the pretender. She'd let him walk out of her house without bothering to, at the very least, get a number for him - as per the rules of the chase he would be the one to contact her.

"You look tired Miss Parker. Maybe you should take the afternoon off, let Broots and I continue with the search."

She smiled briefly at his suggestion. She couldn't be anywhere else other than The Centre, close to her son - just in case. Despite Ethan's feeling of calm regarding Alex she couldn't bring herself to fully believe him - she had been disappointed so many times before. She'd spent a restless night, tossing and turning, and never quite managing to get to sleep, before giving up in the early hours. She'd stood in the hallway, watching Ethan sleep on her couch and feeling slightly envious of his confidence and his ability to deal with his inner sense. "Alex is still alive," she said quietly.

Sydney's eyebrows rose ever so slightly. He'd suspected it had been the news about her son - and her inability to do anything about the situation - that had settled on her features. He was even willing to theorise that Jarod could be the cause but he hadn't expected her news. "Then the question is, 'Does he intend to finish what he started?'"

"I think it's safe to assume the answer is yes." She had wanted to come to The Centre last night and take her son, getting as far away as she could, but there was still a few questions that needed answering - she couldn't take one child and possibly leave any others behind. And there was Jarod. Her hand went to her mother's ring, her thumb and forefinger twisting at it reassuringly. "Time to start looking over my shoulder again," she said sarcastically. Sydney smiled distractedly, he was obviously thinking along the same lines as herself. "I wonder if Jarod knows," she said pointedly.

Sydney nodded, he could remedy that. He didn't dwell too long on the fact she was concerned for the pretender as well, he'd seen enough during the last few years to know that she had always struggled to maintain her facade. "Jarod has a knack for knowing such things," he promised her. He would send Jarod another e-mail but that could wait for now - there was something else he wanted to do first. "How are you holding up Miss Parker?"

The soft caring tone of his voice confirmed once again that Jarod had told Sydney about their son but she wondered if he had said anymore? She did not want to discuss that much with Sydney, he would only force her to acknowledge her feelings for the man she had chased for so long. "Fine," she lied.

"You've had quite a few surprises lately - it's not wrong, or weak, to admit they have had some kind of impact."

"Is this where I tell you how I'm feeling?" she asked flippantly.

Sydney sighed. "If you would like to talk Miss Parker, I would like to listen." In the long stretch of silence that followed he was never once certain of which way she would go but still found himself surprised when she eventually spoke.

"I feel betrayed Sydney... The sad thing is that it doesn't feel unexpected - I've been lied to most of my life," she whispered truthfully.

He sat forward. "Perhaps you were, subconsciously, already expecting the outcome?" He received a weak smile and a 'perhaps' which he took as confirmation that she'd had some inkling all along, possibly because of her inner sense? He briefly thought of Catherine Parker and how she had died trying to ensure her own children's futures. "I think you're doing the right thing," he said as she caught his eyes.

"There is no other option," she said strongly.

There was such determination in her statement that he was reminded of something Jarod had said up at his cabin; she had such strength, he only worried that it came at a cost. He leant forward, meeting her eyes, "You deserve a life without lies Miss Parker."

* * *

Miss Parker sat quietly in her chair. Most of her morning had passed by in the same manner, there had been no immediate response from Jarod and very little else to do to prevent her mind from wandering back to the same worries. Yet she had remained calm, mindful of Jarod's warning to remain as normal as possible. She was , in effect, stuck; reliant upon other people to make their move. She couldn't do anything about Alex - she didn't even know where he was. She couldn't take Finn, not without knowing if there were anymore of her children somewhere in The Centre. And she couldn't talk to Jarod, no matter how much she willed the phone to ring. All she could really do was wait.

Broots tumbled nervously into her office rousing her roughly from her thoughts. "Jarod?" she asked quickly, aware that this was probably the first time in months that she really, and whole heartedly, wanted to find the pretender. And the last time had only been because Jarod held information of her mother, albeit trapped in his head.

"No... Sorry," Broots explained, walking further into the office. "That 'other thing' you wanted me to look into..."

Miss Parker nodded, indicating that he should continue and not entirely happy with his appearance; his usual dishevelled look was accompanied by a suspicious demeanour. What had he found out? And why did he always have to be so obvious about it?

"There were no hits."

"Nothing?" she asked, slightly amazed. She knew it was probably a long shot, Jarod had already come up empty, but she had gotten her hopes up when he had rushed in. Now her heart sank; there were going to have to be some more expeditions into the sub levels.

"No," Broots confirmed, thinking that she looked so dejected right then. He hesitated before continuing, wondering if he should tell her there and then or wait 'til later. There was no competition really, whatever her state of mind she always wanted to know the truth and she wouldn't be happy if he kept anything from her. "Er... I was down in the cafeteria speaking to Mark - you know, the guy with the limp who works in purchases." He paused to find her staring intently at him, that little tilt of the head she used to tell him to stop dithering, present. "Anyway," he began, clearing his throat, "When I got back to my desk, this was there." He took the file from under his shirt, placing it on her desk quickly, greatly relieved to be rid of his burden.

She took the file, casting Broots a puzzled look. A quick perusal of its contents explained his actions and took her breath away. "Who left it Broots?" she asked finally, her gaze darting back to him.

Broots shrugged. "I don't know Miss Parker... But, when I took a look at it, I knew you'd want to see it straight away." She nodded at him then turned her attention back to the file. "I could check the security cameras... There are none directly near but it's possible whoever left it could show up," he offered.

Whoever had left the file had known she would see it and the way it was left suggested the guilty party did not want to be seen. The words on the page in front of her blurred, tears that threatened to fall were interfering with her vision. She blinked them back, only half aware of Broots' offer. Only when she was certain that her eyes wouldn't give her away did she finally look back to him. He'd been a good friend to her - and, she finally realised, that's what he was. She'd lost count of the times she'd had him rummaging about The Centre for information or doing something equally treacherous for her. Maybe he only did such things because she was in charge but she hoped, she felt, it was more than that. "What I said yesterday, about going - I meant it Broots."

He smiled at her, causing her to repeat the last part of the sentence. He'd already started to look into the idea, before she'd even suggested it. At various points during his time searching for Jarod he'd encountered a great deal of information about The Centre - things he wouldn't have normally come across before he started working for Miss Parker. At times it hit home how unaware he had been of The Centre's darker side; of course he'd heard the rumours, even added to them himself, as that's all they'd been - rumours. But since his involvement with Jarod he'd never been able to join in with such gossip with the same fervour - he knew now that there was a very good chance it was true. So he'd whiled away many an hour thinking about how he could leave, all he needed was the courage to do so and the small matter of finding the right time. He figured this was probably it, he really shouldn't dither any longer.

* * *

Miss Parker walked cautiously up to front door, looking around as she did so. Unlocking her door she wondered if Ethan would still be there; she'd reluctantly left him in her house that morning with the promise that he would stay there, or contact her should anything change. She'd not heard from him all day. She was happy to find her youngest brother sat on the sofa, in the dark. "Ethan?" she asked softly, turning on the lights.

Ethan blinked a couple of times, his eyes adjusting to the change. "Hi," he managed eventually, looking at Miss Parker. She looked worse than she had that morning and he wondered what she had discovered. With every revelation he learned about The Centre he grew ever more apprehensive for his brother and sister and it seemed with good reason. And he grew ever more determined to help them; had it not been for Jarod and Miss Parker he would have spent the rest of his life there, naively believing every lie Raines fed him. "How did it go at The Centre?"

She sighed softly, "The usual," she began, brushing off his concern, "How about you? Have you 'heard' anything?"

"Nothing," he said staring at her. Now he was at her house he wasn't sure what he should do, how he could help her. He'd spent the day wandering around from room to room; from what Miss Parker had told him this had been their mother's hideaway, somewhere she'd felt most comfortable. Miss Parker had admitted to him that she felt closest to their mother in this house and he had to agree with her. Waiting for her to return he'd hoped that he would get the chance to talk about their mother further - an idea that was a long shot to start off with given the current climate and now seemed best to be avoided completely. "What's wrong?"

She sat next to him on the couch, perching on the end and placing her briefcase on the table in front of them, "Apart from everything?" She sighed again, deeper this time, and opened the case, taking out the file Broots had brought her. It made for depressing reading and hadn't improved her mood that afternoon. "My son's file," she said sadly, holding it out to Ethan. Her father, the man she'd always thought had loved her but had been unable to say as much, had signed the papers giving the project the go ahead. Even though she had already known he would be involved, part of her was hoping, clinging to the possibility, he had nothing to do with it.

Ethan took the file gently from her, the deep red cover standing out against his pale hands. He wondered if there was a similar file about himself tucked away somewhere at The Centre, no doubt telling a similar story of how he was also conceived without the knowledge of either parent. He hesitantly opened the file knowing the contents would mirror his own beginnings; he was as determined as his siblings that the boy would not be a victim of The Centre too. Since learning about Finn the previous night he'd felt an instant affinity with the boy.

Miss Parker sank further into her seat and rubbed her head with one hand. "It's not very pleasant reading material," she began sadly, "But it does answer one important question: he is the only child I have - there are no more."

Ethan turned another page, glancing at various memos and reports - some lost to him in medical jargon, others painfully blunt and to the point, explaining his sister's expression. He paused briefly, concentrating on the whispers in his head that had started up. "They only selected male embryos," he said, moving onto the next page, "Even though there were perfectly viable female ones."

She nodded, closing her eyes briefly; she could almost recite the entire file from heart, she'd read it that many times. There had to be some importance attached to that decision, she just didn't know what it was and she was trying hard to ignore the idea that had first popped into her head when she'd read throught the file; that her father, passing off the child as his own, had wanted a son and that, somehow, it was a reflection upon her as a daughter. And Finn was almost a twin, the other embryo failing to take. And that had been the third attempt to implant embryos into the host: Brigette. The previous attempts had both failed.

"Why would they do that?" Ethan mused.

Miss Parker opened her eyes slowly. "Isn't the pretender gene only dominant in males?"

"Maybe," Ethan conceded, flicking to another page. He paused again, the whispering present again. "Is that why they created him? Another pretender?"

"Yes," she said, turning to Ethan, "Jarod is a red file... So am I." Even as she spoke she began to wonder; she and Jarod had not questioned the whys, it had seemed obvious.

Ethan nodded, not taking the question any further, the voices fading. He turned to another page, nearing the end of the file. He wasn't sure why it was important that he had a nephew rather than a niece, only that his inner sense intimated that it was. He shut the file, feeling uneasy. He glanced at Miss Parker, her eyes staring ahead and tinged with tears. He wished he could offer her some kind of comfort but he had a feeling it wasn't himself that she wanted. "Have you heard from Jarod?"

"No," she said frustratedly, silently berating herself once again for letting him go without getting his number. "Sydney has sent him an e-mail." Of course that would only work if Jarod was able to read it.

As her brow furrowed he was reminded of Jarod's own concerns about Miss Parker after they had all managed to escape from the train. "He'll be okay," Ethan soothed.

Despite Ethan's presence - and his comforting words - she felt alone and she couldn't help but wish that it was his brother who was there instead, a thought that didn't come as a surprise to her; why hadn't she just been honest with Jarod when she'd had the chance? One more lie added to the pile of deception that amounted to her life - and she was as guilty as anyone else who had lied to her. Sydney's words from that morning echoed in her ears: 'A life without lies.' Would she get the chance to?


	8. Dark Clouds Gathering

i) Big thanks to pretender fan, desy, NYT, Annette, ICD, leochick, Phi4858, and a reader for leaving reviews. Annette, S2 final episode has Miss Parker as a red file - the 8th file. Another story thread that wasn't followed through...

ii) Here's the next part, hope it's quick enough for you all. Not sure when I'll get chance to post again; work always picks up at the end of the tax year so I'm going to be busy for a few weeks.

No Distance Left To Run

Chapter Eight

Dark Clouds Gathering

Ethan watched his sister closely; she was sat at the table in her kitchen, lost in a sea of thoughts. He had comforted her as best as he could the previous night, had even managed to convince her to eat something, yet he knew she'd had another sleepless night. He could see the tiredness etched into her face - he hadn't been able to get much himself and had spent the time re-reading the file she had brought home - and he was at a loss to what to do next. Her voice, their mother's voice, urged him to stay with her. He poured out a cup of hot coffee and took it to her, sitting next to her at the table. His proximity stirred her from her thoughts and he was rewarded with a brief smile. "What do you want to do?" he asked softly.

She inhaled deeply, it was a question she had been asking herself most of the night. After Finn's birth the project had been suspended. This fact should have lifted a weight from her shoulders yet it wasn't enough; forty eight hours ago it would have made all the difference in the world. Had she been aware of this fact then it was highly likely that right now she'd be as far away from The Centre as she could get - and with Jarod. Now she just had more questions; why had they stopped at one child and why were they so determined that the child should be male? She'd told Ethan that it was all about being a pretender but she wasn't so sure now. Forced awake in the early hours of the morning by a nightmare that relived Finn's birth - only this time she had held onto her son rather than handing him over to her father, who had forcefully ripped the child from her arms - she had recalled something her father had said that night: 'This seals it - the last piece.' What had he meant by that? At the time the remark had barely registered but now it seemed ominous. She sipped at her coffee, the warm liquid burning a path down her throat. "I don't know," she whispered honestly. Taking Finn and disappearing would mean abandoning Jarod, something she wasn't comfortable with. Nor could she just walk out of there with her son. He was watched twenty four hours a day.

Ethan was about to push her further, ask her again, when a heavy knock on the door prevented him. "Jarod?" he asked quietly instead.

"Jarod doesn't know how to knock," she replied, rising and wrapping her gown tighter around her body, "You'd better hide Ethan." She walked to the door, as Ethan made his way upstairs, and peeped through the eyehole. Her heart dropped at the sight on the other side of the door. Stepping back to the couch she threw the blanket Ethan had been using over the back of it and placed the file from Broots back into her briefcase, snapping it shut. A quick glance around the room confirmed there was nothing else to give her away. Taking another deep breath she opened the door.

"Hey Sis."

"What do you want?" she said coldly. She seemed to be asking him that question all the time and very rarely getting a straight answer.

Lyle stood on the threshhold of the door, unable to do anything else as she seemed unwilling to let him in. He glanced past her into the house wondering what she was intent on hiding from him but could not see anything of note. "Thought maybe we could have breakfast together," he said with a wide smile, turning his eyes back to her.

"Now why would I want to do that?"

Lyle shrugged his shoulders, "I thought we could talk without The Centre looming in the background. As brother and sister rather than employees." He continued to smile as she glared at him; "Aren't you going to invite me in?" he asked casually.

She thought about slamming the door in his face but she acquiesced. She was slightly intrigued by his appearance, he very rarely visited her at home - which wasn't a bad thing. "Talk about what?" she asked as he entered and took a seat on one corner of her couch. She closed the door but remained where she was, she didn't want him to get too comfortable.

"Anything... Everything," he said evenly, taking the opportunity to have a better look around the room.

There was something about the two words he used, and the way he sounded them, that made her wonder once more about her twin's motives. Her eyes unconsciously tracked to the briefcase. Did he know the file was missing? A thought flashed in and out of her mind so quickly it barely registered: had he left it there? "If this is about some power struggle for The Centre, I've told you before - I'm not interested Lyle."

"Is that all you think I'm interested in?"

"Yes," she answered bluntly.

He stole a glance in the direction that her gaze had wandered, noting the briefcase. Her unguarded action spoke volumes about its contents. He thought about asking her directly about the boy but changed his mind at the last second. He looked to her again; without her usual mask of make up he could see that she looked tired. Catching her like this, so unexpectedly, he got to see yet another side to his sister. She wasn't as in control as she liked to make out and something was obviously bothering her. "How are you Parker?"

"Just peachy," she said coldly and untruthfully.

Lyle smiled again, despite hitting that brick wall once more. "Been to see Dad lately?" he tried, watching her very closely. Her reaction saddened him. There, in her eyes, was a brief moment of concern. Like when he'd watched her sitting at Mr Parker's bedside he felt pity for her. She had been so manipulated by her father that she was blind to the truth, unwilling to believe what was obvious. He himself may have had the same treatment at the hands of Raines but at least he could see his puppeteer for what he really was.

She found his question rather unsettling. "Last week," she said slowly, her mind turning to that file again. And to Mr Parker's deception. However, now she was worried; had something happened to her father?

Lyle sat forward watching her stand there, just in front of the door with her arms folded across her stomach. She was so close yet so far away; as always. "Help me out here Parker," he appealed.

She shook her head. "Why don't you get to whatever point it is that you've come here to make so I can get on with more important things," she demanded. She was growing a little impatient; was he stalling her? Or was it something else?

He stared at her for a long time, the silence thick between them. A strange dull ache - small but nevertheless unmissable - settled in his chest. "Do you ever wonder how different things could have been?"

"Well, I'd probably be dressed by now if you hadn't turned up."

Lyle shook his head tiredly. "I meant if I hadn't been taken, if I'd had the chance to know you. To know our mother."

Miss Parker shifted uneasily as his eyes bore into hers. There was no accusation there, no anger at his being taken whilst she had remained. It was an honest, open question - and it unnerved her. She had wondered of course, since the day she'd found out she had a twin. Just as she often thought about how her life could have been if she hadn't lost her mother. "Can't change the past," she said quietly.

"No," he agreed, dropping his eyes to the table in front of him where the briefcase sat. "You can change the future," he said quietly to himself. From the corner of his eye he could feel her staring coldly at him and he sighed deeply. "You know what," he said, rising from the sofa, "I'm not that hungry."

"Me neither," she agreed quickly. He walked towards the door, and her, and she stirred into action opening it for him.

He stopped just in front of her and caught her eyes. "Parker-"

"I'm not interested Lyle," she said, cutting him off before he could finish. He didn't protest but his eyes held what she thought was conflict. He turned, walking silently away and she closed the door firmly behind him, relieved that he was gone. Lyle was the last thing thing she needed - and the least of her worries. But she was unsettled by his appearance. And his question; Lyle didn't do regret... Did he?

"Why did you do that?"

She jumped slightly at Ethan's voice, turning around to face him. "He's... He's not a good person, he's done some pretty horrific things."

Ethan walked further into the room. "He's our brother," he said softly.

Miss Parker shook her head, "That's my bad luck Ethan, he doesn't have to be yours too." She leant back against the door steadying herself slightly. "He has stood there and watched me with my son on more than one occasion, knowing the truth, and never said a word." She felt the accusation again in Ethan's eyes; Lyle was family. She didn't want to tell him about the other things Lyle had done, not yet. Not ever. "If he had found you here there's a very good chance you'd be on your way to The Centre right now."

Ethan contemplated her words, rubbing the side of his head as he did so. "I could have been just like him. If you and Jarod hadn't intervened I could have...done some bad things." He'd have done anything back then to stop the voices. Now that he had a little more control, that he knew more about his family, he was thankful they had been there for him.

"No. You're not like him," she said assuredly, walking towards her youngest brother. He smiled faintly at her, but his eyes avoided hers. "He's passed second chances Ethan; third, fourth, and fifth are long gone too."

"But did he ever get a first chance?"

* * *

"Has he been in contact?" 

Sydney shook his head. "There has been no word," he replied sadly. He was worried about the pretender; if Miss Parker was right, and Alex was still alive, then Jarod could still very well be a target. And, as he'd had no response to his e-mail, could still be unaware.

Broots shifted slightly on the couch; he wasn't laying on it, merely sitting upright. Laying down seemed highly inappropriate given the circumstances even though Sydney was, in a certain way, his shrink. "You don't think... I mean," he paused and looked around the room, "Alex," he whispered the name conspiratorily.

"I hope not Broots."

The younger man nodded his agreement. He sincerely hoped so too, though he hadn't the nerve to admit such things out loud - not in The Centre anyway. "Do you think we could be in danger too? I mean, more than usual?"

Sydney sat back in his chair, still watching Broots. He considered the question carefully. Given the circumstances of Alex's appearance last time it seemed that neither himself or Broots specifically were a target but Jarod was, and so was Miss Parker. Would Alex be tempted to draw others into the game to get to his targets? "It's possible I suppose," he finally replied, "These seem to be tumultuous times."

"Don't I know it." There was a pause in the conversation for a moment as Broots worked up the courage to ask his next question. "Have you thought about leaving, Sydney?"

"The Centre?" he asked, getting a nervous nod from Broots. "I did once, a long time ago," he admitted, thinking of Catherine Parker and her plan to take her daughter, along with Jarod and Angelo, out of the country.

"Why didn't you?"

Sydney smiled briefly. "I had my work to complete, there were always more pertinent reasons to stay."

Broots answered his own question: "Jarod."

"Yes. And I never honestly thought they'd let me walk away - not unscathed anyway." He smiled again at the younger man, leaning forward onto his desk. "If it's something you're considering I wouldn't discourage you in anyway. Neither, I think, would Miss Parker."

Broots sighed, "I know, she suggested it. Is she going to be okay Sydney?"

"Is she what's holding you back?" Sydney asked, causing Broots' cheeks to redden.

"Sort of," he blushed harder. "I saw her on my way in - she seemed... Well... Not the Miss Parker I know." He'd thought she'd looked drawn; sure, this had only been apparent for the briefest of moments, she was very accomplished at disguising her feelings. He very rarely got to see what lay beneath but it was happening too often lately.

"She has a lot of things to deal with," Sydney said quietly. Broots had informed him of the file that had magically appeared on his desk and of the contents. Mr Parker's disregard for his daughter appalled Sydney but at the same time he hadn't been surprised. He felt sure Miss Parker would be experiencing something much worse. The man who had claimed Miss Parker as his daughter hadn't deserved her and Sydney felt guilty about that too.

"Well, she was on her way to deal with one of them when I spoke to her." Sydney cast a quizical look at him so he continued, "She was going to see her father."

* * *

She sat quietly for the first ten minutes, slowly trying to come to terms with her feelings towards the old man laying on the bed. The matter of her paternity was no longer her major concern: his signature all over Finn's file was. It was strange how much she hated him for what he'd done to her but how she still adored him, how she still loved him. She wondered if there would be a time when that would change but she couldn't see it. Even with the proof of his betrayel in black and white she still couldn't reject him. Not totally. 

She leant towards him, kissing him lightly on the forehead before moving her mouth to his ear. "I can't do this anymore Daddy," she whispered, "It's over." She pulled back to stare at him one last time. She'd made her mind up only an hour earlier after much deliberation. She was going to take Finn and run. She just couldn't take the risk of hanging around waiting for Alex to make his move or Jarod to get in touch. And she sincerely hoped that Jarod was okay; Ethan had seemed confident that he was and she was prepared to take his word for it. Jarod would find them, he always seemed to know where she was. She would check in with Sydney first, he could help her take Finn and would be able to give Jarod a message.

She rose slowly, finally turning her back on the man she had spent years trying to gain approval from. If he were awake then he'd heartily disapprove of her action, could have even talked his way out of his guilt. Maybe she would have bought it as well. She left the room quickly, spurred on by her decision and unaware she was leaving someone else in the room with Mr Parker.

* * *

Rubbing at his eyes with one hand Jarod dumped his bag in the corner of the room with the other. Using his foot he kicked the door closed behind him. Walking further into the sparse room he yawned and slumped down on the sofa - the only seat in the room. He didn't keep the house furnished as he rarely spent that much time there for a very good reason - it was too close to Blue Cove. 

At first he'd hesitated then painstakingly deliberated about buying the house but it became a necessity; he might not have spent long periods of time there but he found himself making frequent trips back to the very place he'd escaped from. More than he really needed to. So the house was purchased, rather cheaply and very covertly, and remained undiscovered. He had found humour in that situation several times; calling Miss Parker or Sydney when he was virtually under their noses, taking the time to watch them coming and going, especially when they were off to his last location, several states away.

He closed his eyes and leant his head back against the sofa. Since leaving Sydney's cabin he'd worked pretty much non-stop setting up various safe houses, bank accounts, transport, and ID's. Once he and Parker were able to make their move there was going to be no chance of The Centre ever finding them. There'd be no more games, no more pretends, and, somewhat reluctantly, no more searching for his mother - he just wasn't prepared to take such a risk. Parker was willing to leave The Centre, with him no less, and he wasn't going to do anything to jeapordise their future. A future that he knew was going to be tougher, and more complicated and risky, than any of his pretends; something that both scared and thrilled him. He had also spoken to his father and informed him of his intentions - and of his most recent discoveries. The Major hadn't been surprised by the news that The Centre had made him a grandfather but he had been angry on Jarod's behalf - something he could understand as they had both had children created without their consent. Charles understood completely his need to rescue his family - however many that turned out to be - and had quickly offered his assistance. Jarod had promised his father that he would keep the offer in mind but he had no intention of doing so; his father already had his hands full with Emily, her recovery slower than originally thought, and Caleb, the boy The Centre had cloned. He had hesitated before revealing that Miss Parker was involved because, from an outside point of view, he recognised that the idea seemed preposterous - the woman worked for the very people who had ruined his life and had spent nearly five years pursuing him. He barely understood it himself yet his father took the news in his stride.

Jarod smiled to himself, remembering that conversation; it was what he'd always imagined being part of a family would be like - having that kind of support and understanding. He dragged himself off the couch, still smiling. In the far corner of the room there was a small television which he absently switched on, not caring which station was tuned in as long as there was some background noise. Retrieving his laptop from the bag he'd dumped earlier he set it up on the only other piece of furniture in the room - a small square table to the side of the sofa. He was just accessing his e-mail when the television caught his attention.

There was a local news report playing, the scene showing a familiar house and Jarod felt his blood run cold. The reporter, a woman in her early forties, was solemnly narrating the few known facts about a double homicide earlier that morning in Blue Cove. He could only watch, mouth slightly agape, as the report finished off that there were no immediate suspects. He could think of a few.

Jarod dragged his eyes back to the smaller screen to see he had new e-mail - and it was from Sydney. Clicking it open he felt his mouth go dry when the words confirmed what he'd feared: Alex was still alive. And judging by the scenes he had just witnessed on the television, he was still out for revenge.


	9. Just Like Blood

i) Huge thanks to rev2004, pretender fan, phi4858, ICD, and desy - glad you're all enjoying this story so far. Sorry for the delay in updating; I've stayed late at the office almost every day for the last two weeks... I'm still not sure how I managed to find the time to write this chapter. No promises as to the promptness of the next part, there's not going to be any let up at work until the Easter break.

No Distance Left To Run

Chapter Nine

Just Like Blood

Miss Parker didn't bother knocking on Sydney's door; why break the habit of a lifetime? She found him in the same position she usually did; sat behind his desk reading through the paperwork of whatever project he was currently working on. Shutting the door firmly behind her she walked up to his desk, "Has Jarod contacted you?"

"No," the older man informed her with a sigh. Looking up he caught the disappointment darkening her face, and something else. "Are you okay Miss Parker?" he asked gently, her visit to her father prominent in his mind.

She nodded. A growing confidence had overtaken her on the short walk to Sydney's office. She had no real plan in mind. Though she had thought about leaving The Centre before, she'd never got as far as actually doing anything more about it; it was just another idle daydream. She did have some money in an account she was certain The Centre knew nothing about - an act of independence, perhaps even defiance, during her early career that she'd maintained for the last decade or so. That was a start. She could think of only one place to hide and something inside her confirmed this notion. She would think further ahead than that once she and Finn were free. "I'm going to take him Sydney." He nodded at her as if he'd been expecting the news.

"What about Jarod?" Sydney asked carefully.

She shook her head lightly, feeling that she was somehow betraying Jarod. "He can look after himself..." She caught Sydney's eyes, "He'll find us." She hoped Jarod would understand why she was doing this.

Sydney smiled briefly in reassurance, sealing his own participation. "How are you going to get him out without Lyle or Raines stopping you?"

"I'm not sure but I can't risk waiting any longer. I don't want to wait any longer," she said softly, the latter sentence only hitting home when she had uttered the words. She wanted her child. It was a feeling that had been building ever since Jarod had confirmed what she'd suspected.

Sydney nodded and smiled again. "Is anything I can do to help?"

She allowed herself a smile at his response. She wasn't exactly sure how she was going to rescue Finn. Ethan had already offered his assistance, once she had decided what to do, and it had taken a great deal of persuasion from herself earlier that morning to keep him away from The Centre. She wasn't going to swap her son's freedom for her brother's. Could she really ask the same of Sydney, a man she had known for most of her life? Before she could reply she was, quite unexpectedly by all parties concerned, interrupted.

Broots half ran, half walked into the office in an agitated state. "Hey Sydney... Miss Parker..." Broots said her name with a hint of surprise as he hadn't expected to find her in there. He ground to a halt as she turned around to face him.

"What?" Miss Parker asked, as Broots stood silently.

He swallowed. "It was just on the news... Though you don't really need to be watching it 'cos everyone's talking about it," he said quickly, "I mean, some freaky things have happened in the past but this is just..." He paused again, long enough to wonder why they were looking at him rather strangely.

Miss Parker sighed impatiently. "What, Broots?"

"Oh," Broots muttered, the explanation for their expressions suddenly clear. "Raines," he said, unable to keep the shock out of his voice, "He's dead."

"Good news for a change," Miss Parker drawled, a smile filling her face as she looked back to Sydney. "The old ghoul's finally bought it."

Sydney didn't return the gesture. "Why would his death be on the news?" he asked Broots quietly.

"He was_ killed _- Willy too - both at Raines' house. The place is crawling with police," Broots explained. "Probably won't be long before they turn up here too," he added as an afterthought.

Miss Parker sobered immediately. "Shit," she whispered under her breath, smile disappearing. She couldn't have the police interfering. Not now.

"Alex?" Sydney asked, turning back to Miss Parker.

"Sounds like the Centre reject," she said distractedly, but she was thinking of Lyle's early morning visit to her house. Had he been up to something else? Did he want The Centre that much? She knew he was capable of many things - and was ambitious enough to do anything - but Lyle wouldn't have been so clumsy, or overt, about it. It had to be Alex. The confidence that had filled her only minutes earlier, faded to be replaced with fear. "Broots," she said, getting his attention immediately, "Take Debbie and go, get as far away from here as you can. Do you have somewhere to go?"

"Er, yeah but..."

Miss Parker shook her head, "No excuses Broots. I'm going myself. Sydney?" she asked, looking back to the older man. Broots followed her lead and they both watched him sit there silently, hands clasped together and resting on his stomach, apparently considering his options. "You're staying," she said.

"I need to make sure you're _all_ safe," he stated, thinking of Jarod.

She nodded and wondered just what it would take to get Sydney to leave. "You still here Broots?" she snapped at the younger man.

* * *

Jarod slammed the passenger door of his car shut. With his phone glued to one ear he walked around to the other side where, having not gotten the response he wanted, he terminated the call and got into the car. Starting the engine he threw his phone onto the passenger seat. He was partly aware that he was acting out of panic when he really should be approaching the situation logically. But he was worried and he knew he didn't have the time to do such a thing. Alex was taunting him; the news crews had been the first on the scene, tipped off by a male who had given his name as 'Peter Dern'. Driving off, all Jarod could think of was how much he had to lose.

* * *

Miss Parker walked swiftly into her office for what, she figured, would be the last time. Having called Ethan to warn him about Alex - unneccesarily as it turned out, he'd already seen the reports - and then spending ten minutes persuading him to stay put, she'd headed for her office; her sanctuary within the walls of Hell, but also where she kept a spare round of ammunition. She wasn't going to take any chances where Alex was concerned. The short journey from Sydney's had proven Broots' statement; The Centre seemed to be at a standstill, whispering and furtive glances had followed her all the way - did they think she was responsible? Part of her wished she was, the old man had deserved it for what he'd done to her mother. More likely, she thought, people were concerned about their positions with the change of 'management' that would now follow. Standing at her desk she retrieved her bullets then checked her gun, ensuring the safety was on.

"So you've heard the news?"

She groaned inwardly. "That the living dead has finally passed over?" she asked without looking up. "It's the talk of the town. Won't be long before the police start asking questions here - and we both know how much The Triumverate love outsiders interfering. Don't suppose you had anything to do with it?"

Lyle watched her carefully as she continued to ignore him, busily stowing her gun away in its holster. "You're not staying for the party?" he asked hopefully, ignoring her question.

She finally looked up. "No - The Centre's all yours Lyle."

"Oh sure, now that the police are interested, half the staff are spooked, and that psycho Alex is back on the scene you leave."

She wasn't sure if he was being serious or not. "Sounds like the perfect opportunity to go. I'm sure you'll manage... And you won't mind if I take our brother," she said coolly. He smiled at her, not exactly the response she was expecting, and took a step forward. She quickly retrieved her gun, aiming at his chest.

Lyle raised his hands and stopped dead. There was a short silence. "You mean you're taking your son," he corrected, his heart beating so loudly in his ears that it felt as though it was located further up his body than it actually was.

Miss Parker shook her head sadly but kept her gun aimed at him. "Tell me Lyle, how long have you known?"

He shrugged; "From the start."

"Bastard," she said bitterly, gripping the gun tighter and fighting the urge to pull the trigger.

"No," he disagreed quickly, "Mom was married when we were born." He instantly regretted saying it, getting her angry wasn't helping. He was treading a very fine line, given the current circumstances. "I was hoping you would have just taken him straight away," he said smoothly.

"What?"

He risked edging a little closer to her. "I wasn't sure if you'd worked it out - you seemed to be asking all the right questions. When you didn't make a move, I had to be more direct. Time was running out."

"You did leave that file on Broots' desk," she said, surprised.

Lyle sighed softly, then nodded.

"Why?" she asked quietly. Ethan's remark about chances played back in her head and she tried to ignore it. Lyle didn't answer. "Why would you want me to take him?" she reiterated.

"So you'd go, I wanted you out of the way." He lowered his hands slowly, "And despite what you think about me I couldn't just kill you."

She glared at him sceptically. "You could have had me killed."

"No," he said coolly, "I couldn't."

She shook her head slightly in disbelief. She felt she could almost believe him. Almost. "Then why not just tell me the truth?"

"You wouldn't have believed me Parker." Or she'd have second guessed his actions and hung around; he didn't want that.

"Try me," she began, gun still trained on him, "There are still some things I don't know."

He smiled despite himself. "Always were big on the truth weren't you?"

"Because I was always kept out of the loop," she countered.

He nodded grudgingly, mindful of the time. "Okay, shoot," he said, quickly adding with a grin, "Questions, not bullets."

She paused thoughtfully, she hadn't really expected him to agree. On the other hand she was aiming her gun at his heart - if he really did have one. There were so many things she could ask, some recent, some that had plagued her for too long, yet - as always - it was her father who overruled them all. "Why?" she asked quietly, "Why did he steal my child, then pass him off as his own?" Moreover she wanted to know _how_ he could do that to her but that answer wouldn't lie with her twin.

"I was always led to believe it was because of who his real father is," Lyle replied cryptically.

"Then it is about being a pretender?" she asked, nodding at him. He took a while to answer which made her doubt his honesty again.

Lyle tensed his hand, the pain from his missing thumb still insistent. "There was a lot of pressure from the Triumverate. The Centre needed Jarod back, desperately. He was always the bargaining chip. As time went on it seemed increasingly unlikely that goal would ever be achieved. The boy was a... Solution to that problem."

"Then why would you want me to take him if that were the case?"

"The Parker legacy," he began, edging forward again and stopping when he was just in front of her desk. She didn't flinch or move her gun. "You're the oldest Sis - your son's next in line. If you both were to... Abdicate..." he let the sentence hang, the rest was obvious. She stared at him for a long moment and he began to think she wasn't going to buy it. For a fleeting moment he thought about being honest with her but he dismissed the idea as quickly as it had appeared. He clenched his fist again, harder this time.

She let the gun drop to her side. She still didn't quite believe him, she had the feeling he wasn't telling her everything, but she realised that she was letting her desire for answers distract her from more important matters. Time was pressing on. "You can have The Centre Lyle, I never wanted it anyway."

"I know," he nodded, hiding his relief, "You should have left years ago." Her gaze hardened once more and he thought for a moment that she was going to rebuke him but instead she dropped her eyes, putting her gun away once more.

"If I go," she said evenly, drawing her eyes to him again, "If I take my son, what are you going to do?"

What he was going to do was find the two biggest sweepers he could and make sure Alex didn't have the upper hand this time. "I'm not coming after you Parker. Or the boy." Again, he wondered if she believed him - he couldn't really tell, he never had been able to. He supposed she was equally struggling with that conundrum. Just when he was becoming unnerved by her scrutiny the sound of The Centre's fire alarm tore through the building.

"This isn't a test run, is it?" Miss Parker asked loudly.

Lyle shook his head sadly. He'd run out of time. "If you're going to leave, do it now Sis."

* * *

As she stepped into the corridor she succumbed to a feeling that had been threatening to overtake her. As she'd made her way downstairs - the elevators out of commission once the alarm had been triggered - fighting against the tide of people evacuating the building, she'd felt only fear. She'd tried to scan every face that she'd passed, looking for any staff responsible for caring for her son but had drawn a blank. And she hadn't seen Finn either. Now that fear was rampant. The corridor was as dimly lit as it had ever been and she drew her weapon unsure of what she'd find. But she was prepared. She strode slowly but carefully along the corridor to her son's quarters, thankful the sirens were still ringing and thereby preventing an eerie silence from following her.

She found the the first door ajar and her fears immediately doubled. Pushing the door open with her elbow, both hands holding her gun, she found the nurse who had been so lax in her job previously, dead. She hurried into the next room, her panic increasing further, only to find it empty. She checked all the other rooms thoroughly but there was no sign of the infant. She felt as empty as the room she stood in, as if her heart had been ripped out. She looked around the room once more in desperation for any sign of who had taken Finn but there was nothing. Her mind conjured up an image of Alex holding her son, that wild glint in his eyes; if Alex knew the truth about her son - and it seemed that he knew a great deal - he wouldn't hesitate in using Finn against her. Against Jarod. Tears welled behind her eyes, formed by frustration and despair, and she sunk down to her knees.

The familiar tone of her phone broke through the dark cloud around her. "Jarod?" she asked hopefully, pressing her free hand to her ear in an attempt to shut out the alarm.

"No - it's me Miss Parker. Where are you?"

"He's gone Syd, he's not here," she said weakly into the phone, her tears falling onto the cold floor beneath her.

"He's here Miss Parker, your son is here with me. Angelo's brought him."

Her tears fell harder but now they were through sheer relief and joy. "Get him out Sydney," she shouted down the phone, "Go to my house, Ethan is there. Take Angelo as well. I'll meet you there as soon as I can."

"I will Miss Parker," Sydney promised, "Be careful."

* * *

Grinding to a halt at a red light, Jarod tapped his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel, silently cursing the traffic system. He picked up his phone and tried to contact Parker once more; he only got the engaged signal again. The lights finally turned green and he concentrated on the road ahead. He was almost there but he didn't like this at all. Still holding his phone he tapped it against his leg distractedly as his eyes watched the road but his mind wandered elsewhere.

* * *

Sydney put the phone down, glancing back up at his visitors; Angelo sat on the couch, his hands covering the boy's ears, shielding him from the noise, and both of them were grinning - as if this were one big game. The boy held tightly onto a small teddy bear and Sydney had his first real opportunity to study the child closely - the most striking resemblance to either parent, he noted, being those pale eyes that were so like his mother's. He wondered how long Mr Parker would have carried on with the charade if circumstances had been different. Probably for as long as he could. He stopped himself from dwelling further on the subject - he needed to get them all out safely. He was glad that Broots had already gone, there was one less person to care for. "We need to go Angelo," he said, rising from his chair and putting his jacket on.

Angelo nodded, his smile fading. He swung Finn into his arms, holding his head to his chest and covering the child's unobscured ear with his free hand.

The office phone rang and Sydney hesitated briefly before answering, his eyes meeting Angelo's. "This is Sydney," he answered calmly, only raising his voice so he could be heard over the alarm.

"It's me Sydney, what's going on?"

"Jarod," Sydney exclaimed, smiling at Angelo as he spoke. "Did you receive my message?"

"Yes," Jarod said, manouvering his car around a corner with one hand, "And I saw the news reports. Is everyone okay? I can't get in touch with Miss Parker." He could hear the alarm in the background and pressed his foot down harder.

"I have Angelo and the boy with me now, we're just leaving. Miss Parker is making her way up from one of the sub-levels, the plan is to meet at her house. Jarod, Alex is here somewhere."

"I know," Jarod replied, "The news report was meant for me. Alex wanted me to know he was here."

"Then you're on your way to The Centre?" Sydney asked. He received an answer to the positive; "Be careful Jarod; it's not safe here, for anyone."

"I will Sydney, just... Make sure my son is safe," he replied before hanging up.

"Time to go," Angelo whispered, as Sydney stood listening to the dial tone.

Sydney reluctantly hung up and directed Angelo towards the door. Outside the office a few stragglers were making their way out of The Centre and the three of them followed suit. Sydney was acutely aware of how suspicious they would appear to others. As they emerged from the darkness of The Centre into the mid morning brightness he was relieved to see throngs of people, stood at the designated areas, waiting patiently at the safe distance as if the whole affair was a routine test. He wished he could believe it was just that. He noted several sweepers pacing the perimeter of The Centre, ushering out the last few employees and 'inmates' from the lower levels. Other sweepers were milling in front of the crowds, several of the burly men were talking animatedly into walkie talkies. Steering Angelo towards the crowds he hoped that, in the confusion, they could quietly slip away.

Joining the crowds he made sure Angelo, who was still cradling the boy in his arms, was in front - that way he could see them at all times. Once or twice Angelo turned around and grinned as they carefully picked their way through. All Sydney could do was flash a smile back in return, his ears catching pieces of conversations that all seemed to be hugely pessimistic. He had to agree with them. They were almost at the back of the crowd when he felt a large hand firmly grip his shoulder. He stopped dead, watching his two wards continue forwards and silently willing them not to stop.


	10. Blood Will Out

i) Big thanks to pretender fan, Nans, leochick, rev2004, Alliana, NYT, a reader, Sirus183, and phi4858. Your reviews keep me going with this, otherwise it would take me much longer to finish (I know, I know - I'm not exactly prompt to begin with).

ii) This chapter contains most of where I started with this story but it's been the hardest one to write. I have to admit to being fully influenced by the first movie - a surprise to me 'cos I didn't really rate it on first viewing...

iii) 'Always a cause, not solution' ('I am the news' / OCS)

No Distance Left To Run

Chapter Ten

Blood Will Out

Sydney risked a few more seconds of blissful ignorance; the owner of the hand pressed on his shoulder didn't seem in any hurry to make a move either. Reluctantly, once Angelo and Finn had been swallowed up by the crowd, he slowly turned to face his captor. It wasn't Alex. It wasn't Lyle. It wasn't even Jarod. "Sam."

The imposing sweeper stood straight, the hand that had grasped Sydney now hung loosely at his side, the other held a walkie talkie. He didn't actually say any words out loud but the sweeper's stance, the grim set of his face, and the questioning gaze made Sydney speak again. "You need to move everyone further away."

"There's no fire," Sam said stonily.

"No," Sydney agreed, "It's something worse." He wasn't exactly sure what was about to happen, only that Angelo had wanted to leave. What's more, from what Sydney could understand, Angelo had set off the fire alarm - the building needed to be empty.

Sam glanced back at The Centre. "Where's Miss Parker?"

Sydney hesitated. If he told Sam she was still in The Centre the sweeper might go back inside; exactly where Jarod was heading. He couldn't risk Sam seeing the pretender and taking a shot. "She's on her way home," he said easily; it wasn't strictly a lie after all, that was Miss Parker's destination... She just hadn't left The Centre yet. He held his breath as Sam did nothing other than glare at him, his face blank. He only exhaled - quietly - when Sam brought the walkie talkie in his hand to his mouth and started to issue orders to evacuate the surrounding area.

"You'd better catch up with him," Sam said evenly, pointing in the general direction that Angelo had gone, before walking away.

Sydney watched the sweeper for a beat, a little surprised but ultimately relieved. His eyes flickered to The Centre; whatever was going on in there he hoped that Miss Parker was safe. And that he had just done the right thing.

* * *

By the time Miss Parker returned to the ground level she found it bereft of any one else. The alarm had stopped ringing - a slight relief - though the warning lights continued to flash, piercing the gloom. She slowly walked into the lobby, gun held steady in both hands. She had made her way back to the surface in much the same manner, in stark contrast to her earlier, frantic, journey downstairs; then she had fought her way against the tide, her sense of panic and urgency multiplied by the sheer energy exerted to reach her destination. Now, after a roller coaster ride of emotions she was back on an even track. She needed to be - she had to get out of The Centre. She had expected Alex to jump out at every corner and was surprised to have made it this far though she refused to let her guard down. The voice, when it came, caused her to turn slightly to her left.

"Miss Parker, it's so nice to see you again."

"I can't say the same about you," she replied, following the sound to a dark corner where Alex stepped out of the shadows. He held a gun in one hand, pointing it at her, the other hand she couldn't see too well. He looked as cool as could be, apart from the black eye he was sporting. She kept her own gun raised.

Alex laughed lightly, "No, you wouldn't would you?" He smiled as he watched her anger visibly rise. He was going to enjoy this so much more than he'd thought. Even if the morning hadn't gone quite to plan. He could still have his fun, even without the child. "Found all your secrets yet?" She only glared at him and he enjoyed seeing the flurry of emotions that spread across her face. "You've found something haven't you. Let me guess," he drolled, "Some new secret The Centre never wanted you to know. Only it wasn't quite what you were expecting, was it? Your little," he paused deliberately, "Brother? Shame I didn't get to meet him."

She gripped the gun tighter; "I should shoot you now."

"Oh Miss Parker," he tutted, "I thought you were much smarter than that." He raised his hand, the one he'd kept concealed, "This is a detonator - the whole place is wired. One click and everything disappears. For good."

She hesitated; was he bluffing? She had to concede that he must have being doing something during his absence - and it wouldn't involve anything virtuous. "What do you want Alex?" she asked, reluctantly lowering her weapon. Maybe if she kept him talking she could buy herself some time to think of a way out of this.

"For starters you can rid yourself of that gun." Alex watched her reluctantly place the gun on the floor then ordered her to kick it away which she did. He slackened his grip on the detonator. "My aims haven't really changed Miss Parker. Except this time there aren't going to be any second chances."

Standing with both, now empty, hands raised, his words slowly sunk in. She was just making a connection between his statement and his intentions the last time she'd encountered him, when he spoke, as if he'd read her mind.

"Just ask Mr Parker," Alex said blandly. "Oh wait, you can't. Not anymore," he shrugged lazily, watching her eyes darken. Taking out Mr Parker, the man who had thought he was inferior, had been rather dull. The fact that the old man was comatose meant he hadn't been as useful this time around, nor had Miss Parker been so enamoured with the man she thought was her father. Disposing of him then, had only been a neccesity, a very small part in the bigger picture. The last time he'd planned to do it had been so much more fulfilling; toying with Lyle, having him at his bidding, had been enjoyable. Plus, Miss Parker had been suitably distraught and Jarod had come running. He was going to rerun that scenario though this time he had planned to use the boy in Mr Parker's place.

The words felt like a punch to her stomach. She wanted to walk the short distance and return the favour to Alex, but in the physical sense. Even after everything her father had done to her, it still hurt. "You have been a busy boy," she ground out, desperately trying to keep her voice even.

He smiled wider as she struggled to keep her composure. "Not going to shed a tear for Daddy dearest?" he asked, "Fallen a little off his pedestal, hasn't he?"

She couldn't find a suitable retort; Alex was right, her father didn't deserve her tears. He never had. She was relieved to be saved by the bell - or, in this case, the ringing of her phone. She cast her eyes questioningly at Alex.

"Answer it," he said, raising his gun and walking towards her.

Locating her phone she brought it to her ear. As she did so Alex narrowed the gap between them. "What?" she asked as evenly as she could. She only heard the beginning of Jarod's reply as Alex snatched the phone from her.

"Hello Jarod," Alex stated smugly into the phone, his other hand still holding his gun and keeping it pointed at Miss Parker. "You got my message then?"

"Leave her alone, Alex."

He smiled at Miss Parker. "I can't do that Jarod, you see it's much better this way. Without her you wouldn't be on your way now. You are on your way aren't you Jarod?" he asked without waiting for an answer, "Because I'd hate for anything to happen without you."

"Let her go," Jarod tried, "I'll still be there."

"Now that wouldn't be any fun at all," Alex taunted, before terminating the call. He threw the device to the floor and it slid somewhere near her gun. "He's on his way," he announced happily to Miss Parker, before moving quickly to hold on to her with one arm. She struggled but he managed to control her, a jab in her side from his gun convinced her to submit. "'Til then it's just you and me."

She squirmed in his arms, testing his hold on her only to find it sufficient. He had moved so quickly and she had been distracted by Jarod's voice; happy to hear from him at last but upset that she couldn't speak to him. She had strained to hear the other side of the conversation; a part of her hoped that Jarod wouldn't bother coming to The Centre, that instead he would go to her house and take their son. But she knew he wouldn't. If Jarod had one weakness it was that he had to right wrongs and she knew that he would do this for her or die trying - and that thought terrified her. She had to do something. Anything. "While we're waiting why don't you tell me who my real father is."

Alex laughed into her ear, "Still not figured that one out yet?" He manouvered them both closer to the wall; Jarod was probably close. "It's not going to be on your mind much longer," he warned.

"Then it won't matter if you tell me," she persevered.

He didn't reply, instead he cast a long glance at his surroundings. He couldn't see Jarod anywhere but it wouldn't be long now; he would just have to be patient a little longer. He felt her struggle again and pressed his gun harder into her back, ending her movements. "You know, Lyle put up more of a fight than you."

"Then he's dead too?" she asked quietly.

"Not yet," Alex smiled, "I have something special planned for Mr Lyle - he will be alive and conscious for the grande finale, when the walls come tumbling down."

"You are one sick bastard."

"That's right Miss Parker, all thanks to The Centre." He paused briefly, smiling even though she couldn't appreciate the gesture from her vantage point. "Your brother was another little secret they kept from you - with good sense really, he is a little... Unstable."

She clenched her teeth: "He says the same thing about you."

"Oh?" Alex grinned, "Are you defending him Miss Parker? I heard you two weren't close, being separated at birth must have put a real dampner on that." Again there was no quick fire retort and he felt slighted by her refusal to play along. He tried a different tack. "Did you never wonder why he was taken Miss Parker?" he asked innocently.

"Because Raines is as twisted as you are," she said evenly but her mind was already rolling his question arounf.

"Was," Alex corrected. "But have you ever asked yourself why Lyle was taken and not you?"

She suddenly felt very cold. "What do you mean?"

The slight quiver to her voice told him he'd hit his target head on. This was something new to her - she really had no idea. "Why they wanted the boy... Sound familiar to you Miss Parker?"

She shuddered slightly, instantly thinking about the circumstances of Finn's conception; how her father had only authorised the use of male embryos. Were the two things connected, as he was suggesting? She had a feeling that if it were true it wouldn't have anything to do with being a pretender, as she'd told Ethan it was. As far as she knew Lyle, like herself, hadn't received any training in that respect. That thought was interrupted by The Centre's very own elusive pretender.

"Alex."

Alex grinned turning slightly and taking Miss Parker with him. "So glad you could join us Jarod."

Jarod glared furiously at Alex though the anger was mainly at himself; why hadn't he checked to make sure Alex really had perished that day? "It was an invitation I didn't feel I could turn down," he replied. He cast his eyes to Miss Parker, catching hers briefly. The sight of her, Alex touching her like that, made him even angrier but he saw that strength he so admired settle in those blue eyes of hers. "So what happens now Alex?" he asked, turning his focus away from her and keeping his hands at his side.

"Now? This is the end Jarod. For both of you. For The Centre."

"Why hurt her? She had nothing to do with you or what happened to you at The Centre. Let her go, this isn't her fault."

"No, it isn't," Alex conceded, his smile fading, "It's all your fault Jarod. Everything is your fault."

Jarod clenched his fists tightly, resisting the urge to reach for his gun. He wouldn't be able to get a clear shot. "Because I'm a better pretender than you?"

Alex laughed out loud. "It was never about you being a pretender Jarod, that was just some happy coincidence The Centre couldn't pass up."

Jarod unfurled his fingers slowly. "What do you mean?"

"Still not any closer are you?" Alex asked gleefully, shaking his head, "I still don't understand how they ever thought you were the genius."

Jarod caught Miss Parker's eyes briefly again. He'd turned up with no real plan, but he did know The Centre inside and out. Having seen the crowds slowly dispersing from the front of the building, sweepers mingling with them, he had entered through other means. It was at that point he'd discovered what Alex was planning. He needed to get her out of there and quickly but he also wanted to know what Alex had meant. "Why don't you enlighten me," Jarod baited.

"Testing blood... That pin prick to the finger," Alex began, "That wasn't about being a pretender - not when they started anyway. But it did become an easy way to locate others like you, people like me. Once they had you, what was to stop them thinking they couldn't get away with it all over again? And again."

Jarod had the distinct feeling he wasn't going to like the answer he'd receive but he asked the question anyway; "What were they looking for?"

Alex paused, enjoying the moment. The look of desperation on Jarod's face was just too good. "You Jarod," he said eventually, "They were looking for you." Jarod looked slightly bemused and Alex relished the next sentence. "They were looking for a Parker."

"What?" Jarod asked, his voice giving away the surprise he felt. He was in denial immediately; it just couldn't be true... Could it? He could see Miss Parker sporting a suitably surprised expression.

Alex smiled triumphantly. "Why do you think they were so desperate to keep you from your mother?"

"He's a Parker?" Miss Parker asked dumbfounded, her eyes searching Jarod's for any confirmation that he knew about this little revelation; it wouldn't be the first time. She found none.

"By blood yes, if not by name," Alex smirked. He didn't have very long to enjoy the moment as the clapping of hands rudely interrupted his fervour. He gripped his captive tighter, his eyes darting to the source of the interruption: Lyle. He smirked wider at the slightly bloodied face of the intruder though he was surprised to see Lyle; he'd left him tied to a chair after beating him to the brink of unconsciousness. Nothing was working out as he'd planned.

"Surprised to see me?" Lyle asked Alex casually.

"Surprised you didn't take the opportunity to save your own ass," Alex replied coldly, "Don't tell me you're here to save her as well."

Lyle glanced briefly at his sister, catching the look on her face; he hoped she would understand. "I tend to leave the hero stuff to Jarod," he said, smiling through a bust lip, "Doesn't really go with my image."

Seizing the opportunity she had been waiting for Miss Parker elbowed Alex has hard as she could; her captor's distraction by Lyle had afforded her one more exchange with Jarod and it was now or never. Breaking free from his grasp she heard, rather than saw, the two shots Jarod fired at Alex. The reassuring sound of his body hitting the wall was only heard too but she did turn in time to see Alex slide down on to the floor. She turned to Jarod to assess his situation, a little unnerved by their 'communication'. "The whole building is wired."

Jarod was about to confirm he knew this when Lyle spoke first.

"He's already set the detonater," Lyle said quickly. Miss Parker appeared angry at his admission; "He pushed the button in front of me," he added. He eyed Alex slumped against the wall cautiously. "We need to get out of here."

Miss Parker shook her head, her back to Alex; he'd bluffed and she'd fallen for it. She felt extremely annoyed with herself. A glance at Lyle turned her thoughts back to his actions; why was he still here? She was just taking a step away from Alex and towards Lyle when the latter burst towards her. She froze on the spot, cursing the fact she still didn't have her gun, as Lyle ran into her, turning her around as he did so. With some sort of strange deja-vu she heard two distinct shots again as they both fell to the floor.

Jarod kept his gun raised as he stalked towards Alex. "Miss Parker - are you okay?" he asked, his eyes trained on Alex. He kicked the gun in Alex's hand clear even though he was no longer a threat; the bullet hole in his head was evidence of that.

She took a moment to answer, her mind trying to process what had happened, but she was okay and she told Jarod as much. Rising to her knees she hovered over Lyle who was now lying flat on his back. "Lyle?" she asked, hesitantly. She had attributed the second brace of shots to Jarod but Lyle was deathly still. She placed one hand lightly on his chest, resting on his heart. Had Alex fired a shot too? If he had that could only mean one thing.

Lyle breathed shallowly. Every breath hurt, a deep sharp pain more persistent than his missing digit. "Go," he whispered.

Miss Parker looked at her twin, the man she despised. The man who had just taken a bullet for her. "Why? Why did you do that?"

Lyle smiled weakly. He was tired, tired of running, and he just wanted to go to sleep. Back to dreams of her, dreams that had played on his conscience for a few months; dreams of his mother, of this very day. He was going to try honesty again, maybe she would believe him now. "I saw her Parker," he said quietly, a smile gracing his lips as he spoke. "Our mother," he said again as Parker stared wordlessly at him.

"You... Saw her?" she asked hesitantly. Lyle managed a small nod but she shook her head; he was Catherine's child, like herself and Ethan, so why did she find it hard to believe Lyle? He'd done nothing but make derogatory comments about her own inner sense, had he been experiencing the exact same thing all the while?

"Go, sis," he whispered raggedly.

She didn't move a muscle, but continued to stare increduously at him. If it were true, if he had seen their mother, had experienced a premonition like she had... It made some kind of sense. He'd done his best to get her to leave, he must have had some idea of what was going to happen; the warning about Alex, the hints about Finn, leaving that file for her, and then telling her he wouldn't come after her. But she found it hard to reconcile those facts with his previous behaviour. The worst part was she'd never know, she realised that there was now blood seeping from under him at an alarming rate.

He summoned the last of his strength. "A boy should know his mother... Give your son that chance."

His eyes met hers for one last time and, for once, she felt she could see something real. In her peripheral vision she could see Jarod standing to the other side of Lyle, keeping his distance. She figured it was Jarod's hate of Lyle that kept him over there and she couldn't blame him for that. Her brother gave her one last smile before his eyes closed. Just as abruptly as he'd appeared in her life, he'd left it - leaving her with as many questions as he'd arrived with.

Jarod walked softly towards her, kneeling down beside her and felt for a pulse; there was nothing. He glanced at Miss Parker and found her staring quietly at Lyle. He knew how she felt; it was eerily familiar to Kyle's passing: one sibling taking a bullet for the other. As much as he loathed Lyle, Jarod could admit that Kyle had been no angel either; both had been twisted by Raines. He could only once again silently thank which ever quirk of fate had put him in Sydney's hands. "He's gone Parker."

She nodded mutely, still staring at Lyle. She let Jarod gently remove her hands, his own caressing them as he did so. Looking past him she could see Alex slumped against the wall, no longer a threat.

"We need to go," Jarod said evenly.


	11. Ashes

i) Big thanks to rev2004, NYT, ICD, phi4858, Annette, leochick, and Nans for leaving reviews.

ii) Once again, no promises on the next chapter; I will be out of commission for at least a week and after that I'll just have to see how I'm feeling : ( On the plus side I'll be off work for some time... : )

No Distance Left To Run

Chapter Eleven

Ashes

Pulling up on the driveway, Jarod killed the engine. He stared ahead and he knew Miss Parker, in the passenger seat next to him, was doing exactly the same thing. They hadn't exchanged any words during the ride to her house and he wasn't sure how she was feeling. About the things Alex had said. About Lyle's actions. About himself. He wasn't even sure how he felt; shooting Alex had been necessary, yet he felt a pang of guilt at taking a life - even if it was Alex's. And then there was the whole 'Parker' thing.

She swallowed at the lump in her throat, the one that threatened to bring on the tears. The calm that had enabled her to keep her head had now deserted her and she struggled to keep her feelings in check; whenever she let that shred of restraint fade her mind would take her elsewhere. To questions that needed to be asked, to answers that she feared but she needed to know. She slowly turned to face the truth. "Jarod, do you think Alex was telling the truth? About you?" There was another question in there too, she just didn't have the courage to say it out loud.

"I don't know," he replied, turning his head slightly to face her. He didn't want to even contemplate the fact that he might be a Parker, he wanted to believe that Alex had been lying just to extort more misery. For the first time since he'd escaped he didn't feel especially enthusiastic about following a lead to his past. Ignoring his own misgivings he stared directly into her eyes, finding a maelstrom of emotions there. He suddenly realised what she was really asking, wondering why he hadn't thought of it immediately. He reached over hesitantly, plucking her hand from her lap and holding it in his own. "We're not related," he said, squeezing her hand reassuringly.

Her eyes dropped to their hands. His touch felt so good, so warm and safe - yet it could also be so wrong. She retracted her hand as gently as she could, as she cursed herself yet again for letting things go so far between them; if it turned out that she and Jarod were related... And that was the crux of the matter; she was only just beginning to come to terms with her feelings for him. "How can you be so sure?" she asked longingly.

He sighed softly, remembering how he'd felt a few years back when he had discovered the existence of the red files and of how Miss Parker had a twin. For a short amount of time the possibility that he could be her brother had horrified him; not because it would mean he was a Parker, but because it would deny her to him - something he'd had difficulty coming to terms with back then. "The red files," he said quietly, "It was unmistakable then, and it still is now."

She wanted desperately to believe him but the niggling doubt was still there. "What if they were faked," she blurted out. "There have been so many lies," she shook her head, avoiding his gaze and playing nervously with her mother's ring.

"Hey," he said softly, venutring towards her again and using one hand to gently turn her face back to his, "The only way we're related is through Finn."

She nodded slowly, his choice of words and his confidence persuading her. He'd run the tests himself, had proved she was Finn's mother, had proven he was the father. Knowing Jarod, he'd have carried out the test sufficiently enough to have seen any 'other' connections. If only she'd taken the opportunity to confirm whether she was a Parker or not; that chance was now gone, Mr Parker was dead and, quite aptly, buried under the rubble of The Centre. She had been avoiding that question for too long. Ever since Jarod had first suggested that she might be someone else's daughter. In truth she was scared of the answer, in actual truth she was afraid of a lot of things despite the impression she worked so hard on giving others. But now she needed to know, she needed to be absolutely certain.

Jarod let his hand drop from her face, satisfied that he had assuaged her fears. He figured she was now contemplating the same thing as himself, demons neither of them particularly wanted to face: their heritage. He stared ahead again as he allowed himself to finally face those possibilities. But _how _could he be a Parker? Did that mean that the very people he had spent so long searching for were not his real parents? And, worryingly of all, did it mean The Centre had been justified in taking him all those years ago?

"It's been a Hell of a day, hasn't it?" she said into the silence as his dark eyes focussed back on hers. He nodded mutely, his mind obviously elsewhere. At least she could be sure that she was her mother's daughter and there was a way to find out who her real father was. That one place she'd felt she could take Finn to had been Ben Miller's. If Jarod was a Parker, and she wasn't related to him, then theoritically it would mean that Ben was her father. As long as her mother wasn't keeping any other secrets from her. "I need to see Ben," she whispered, "I need to know, Jarod."

He let out a long breath; "Okay," he agreed. It would be safe to take them both there, The Centre had been oblivious to Ben's part in Catherine Parker's life. His certainty that Ben was Miss Parker's father had only increased through his interaction with Alex. He let his eyes wander back to her house; so many things had changed in such a short space of time but one thing was for certain: his future lay with the small boy inside, a child he had yet to meet. And it lay with her, too. Not by the default of her being his child's mother, but because of something just as overwhelming.

"Ethan is inside," Miss Parker said as the silence threatened to take over again, staring at Jarod's profile as she spoke. "He turned up after... He turned up the day you left." He turned slightly at her slip, eyeing her intently. She thought he was going to say something else and she waited a moment for him to do so, her heart beating furiously in her chest, but instead he dropped his head. She felt a little relieved. "Let's go inside," she said softly, opening her door, "They'll be worried." She didn't wait for his agreement, if he needed a few minutes alone she'd let him have them. What she needed right then was to see her son. She quietly shut the door behind her and walked away. As she opened the front door to her house she heard a car door opening and closing behind her.

"Miss Parker," Sydney smiled, rising from his seat.

She returned his smile and offered the same gesture to Ethan who was stood against the far wall. She couldn't miss how the former's eyes danced with pleasure when Jarod followed her inside. She watched Jarod swiftly move to embrace his brother, inundating him with questions about his absence and she felt the smile growing on her lips as she watched them, then dropped it quickly as her thoughts focussed on Jarod. She hadn't allowed herself to dwell on how she and Jarod would raise their child together but now it was no longer in the distance; it was here and now and they were going to have to face the consequences. She was going to have face the consequences. "Sydney," she asked, returning her gaze to her, now, ex colleague, "Where is he?"

"Upstairs sleeping," Sydney replied, still smiling. "Angelo is watching over him; they seem to have taken quite a shine to each other."

"Broots?"

"He left when you told him to." He received a cursory nod from her; she quickly glanced at the other two men before she walked past him, heading for the stairs. He wondered at whom her gaze had been directed, then followed it to find both men staring in his direction.

"Sydney," Jarod said evenly, "Thank you for taking him."

Sydney walked towards the younger men. "It's Angelo you should be thanking," he said stopping a foot or so away from Jarod, "He took your son before Alex could." His protege's face quickly clouded over.

"Alex would have used him..." Jarod said, shaking his head at the thought. It had been too much when Alex had dragged Miss Parker into his game.

"But he didn't Jarod," Sydney soothed. Jarod nodded weakly and he wanted desperately to comfort the younger man, to finally break down the wall he had carefully constructed and maintained all those years. Having watched the pretender embrace Ethan so openly, Sydney had to admit to himself that he felt something akin to jealousy. And regret. "What did Alex do?" Sydney asked carefully.

"He blew The Centre up. Must have been planning it for some time," Jarod replied, thinking of how satisfying it had felt to look in the rear view mirror and see the building fall. How many times had he pictured that scenario? The downfall of The Centre was something he'd dreamt of since his escape.

"The whole place?" Ethan asked, amazed.

Sydney frowned to himself, taking a seat on the sofa. He hadn't expected the news to be so definitive. For the first time in many years he was free.

"It's all gone," Jarod confirmed, "Thankfully the building had been evacuated." He didn't reveal that he knew of three people who were still in there.

"That was Angelo," Sydney said softly, tuning back into the conversation.

Jarod nodded. Angelo, for all his problems, often saw more of what was happening in The Centre than anyone else. Not only had he saved Finn, he had probably saved the great majority of staff working at The Centre. On cue, the man himself appeared in the room and Jarod quickly moved to thank him, embracing his old friend as he did so. "It's good to see you, Angelo," he said, letting him go.

Angelo grinned his reply, before adopting an even face again. "Baby," he said to Jarod.

* * *

Miss Parker carefully adjusted her position on the bed. She'd found Finn fast asleep, Angelo silently watching, just as Sydney had said. He'd placed Finn in the middle of her bed, a pillow either side as a precaution and it amazed her how gentle Angelo had been with her son. She sat just below Finn on the bed, careful not to wake him as she did so. He seemed so tiny on her spacious bed, a tiny person that she was now responsible for. Though that thought scared her it was nothing in comparison to the love she felt for him. Propped up on one hand, she used the other to gently stroke his cheek. He was holding onto the teddy bear she had given him on her second visit - that seemed a lifetime ago now.

Jarod could only stand in the doorway, completely mesmerised by the scene he had stumbled across. He couldn't see Finn properly as the pillows somewhat obscured his view but he could see her. And she looked more beautiful than he could ever remember, despite everything she'd been through. He was actually seeing her, not the person she tried to be to please her father, but _her._ She simply took his breath away, sitting there on the very bed they'd...

"Jarod?"

He swallowed thickly. "What?"

Miss Parker smiled to herself. He didn't move an inch, instead he hovered there in the doorway. She felt it again; that reluctance, as if he was continually battling with himself over something. If she wasn't doing it, he was; she knew where her hesitance lay but she wasn't so sure about his. Was it over her? Or their son? She recalled how he had tried to persuade her to take Finn - was he going to try and distance himself again? And would it be because of what had happened in this very room a few nights ago? She wasn't going to let him walk away. "Come here," she whispered, "And meet your son."

Jarod nodded mutely, taking the few steps required slowly so he could rid his mind of distracting thoughts. Reaching the side of the bed he crouched down and stared at his son for the first time. He felt an unfamiliar warmth spread through his body that seemed to touch every cell, making him tingle all over. "He's beautiful," he managed to say. All the anger that had been accumulating since he'd discovered he was a father seemed to disappear instantly. This was his son, his family. He would do whatever it took to protect him. And Parker. "Just like his mother," he added, looking to her. He could have sworn she blushed in response.

What she caught in his eyes at that moment was more than she thought she'd see and it made her stomach flip. She nodded, afraid her voice would give her away as Jarod, rather than reaching for their son, took her hand in his again, lacing his fingers with hers. Suddenly nervous at his proximity, all she could think of was that earlier distance between them and how safe it had felt. Safe, but so terribly lonely. She didn't pull away this time.

* * *

Sydney stood calmly, hands in his pockets. Only his eyes flickering to the ceiling occasionally gave away his inner thoughts.

"They're okay," Ethan said softly from his position on the sofa. At the other end, Angelo sat quietly. The older man gave a small nod of recognition but did not respond verbally. Rather than have the silence fill the room Ethan rose and turned on the television, finding the local station that had reported the murder of Raines earlier that morning. Many of the same reporters had made the relatively short journey to The Centre or as close as they were allowed to get. The local authorities had cordened off the area from a significant distance but nothing was fully out of the reaches of a zoom lens. He sat back down as the screen filled with images of devastation. He had never been to The Centre so he figured he couldn't fully appreciate the scene on display, but he had enough experience with explosives to know that this was disruption on a large scale. He wondered why the voices hadn't warned him of the danger.

Sydney stared quietly at the screen. Though Jarod had told him what had happened to The Centre he just hadn't taken in the news fully. Now it was frightening how close he'd come to losing both Jarod and Parker. He took a few steps, his eyes glued to the television, and sat between Ethan and Angelo. The reporter on screen began to emphasise the link between the double homicide that morning and the 'explosion', as the reporter deemed it. Sydney knew it wouldn't be long before national agencies became involved and started to dig into The Centre's past. He scanned the background, ignoring the reporter's - frankly ludicrous even by The Centre's standards - suppositions, but could see no ex employees hanging around; he wondered if Sam had seen fit to send everyone home. He hoped so.

The three of them watched in communal silence for a few minutes until Sydney, unable to watch any longer, rose slowly, excusing himself with the pretence of making drinks - an offer the other two didn't refuse. In actual fact he just wanted five minutes alone to contemplate his own situation - something he didn't manage to achieve. As he entered the kitchen he heard footfalls on the stairs.

"Coffee?" Sydney asked as Jarod followed him into the kitchen.

"No thanks," Jarod said, "Parker's just getting some things together and we're leaving." The older man nodded, a smile gracing his lips, but Jarod missed this as he was staring off to the side, his thoughts on Parker and Finn.

Sydney watched him quietly for a moment, still smiling. He didn't know what had occurred between Miss Parker and Jarod upstairs but he did know that Miss Parker had been worried about Jarod and vice versa. And that it was plainly obvious, to himself at least, that Jarod wanted much more than Miss Parker was possibly willing to give. He just hoped they could make it work. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I don't know," Jarod said truthfully, glancing up. He considered telling Sydney about what Alex had said, but the older man had always maintained that he knew nothing about Jarod's past except for what he was told - and all he had been told were lies. And if Jarod confided in Sydney he would have to dig deeper into the topic himself.

"Jarod?" Sydney prompted.

Jarod paused; he didn't want to go down that road, not just yet. "You shouldn't stay either Sydney, do you have somewhere else to go?"

"Do you really think that's necessary?"

"The Centre may be gone but the Triumverate, and those loyal to them, may still pose a threat. I think it's for the best if we all disappear until the dust settles." Jarod sighed at Sydney's obvious reluctance. "There's nothing left Sydney. You're free from The Centre... That is a good thing, isn't it?"

"Of course," Sydney agreed. Jarod looked unconvinced and Sydney sighed. "It just feels as though it's all happening so quickly," he admitted. He had always thought he'd end his days at The Centre.

Jarod smiled; "It feels like it's been a long, slow process to me Sydney."

Sydney nodded, those feelings of guilt bearing down on him immediately. There were so many things he'd wanted to say over the years that he'd always put off. He didn't think he could do so any longer, this felt like the end. "I only ever stayed for you Jarod," he said slowly, "You have always been very important to me; not as a project or a research subject but as a person." The pretender adopted a neutral expression and Sydney felt compelled to say more. "I tried to protect you, it's only been in recent years that I've come to understand that I failed you miserably. I'm sorry Jarod, I know that doesn't in anyway account for my actions but I really do regret what I have done to you."

"I know Sydney," Jarod said quietly. He wasn't going to grant the older man forgiveness; he suspected even if he did that Sydney would still blame himself anyway. "We've all done some things that we're not proud of; you, me, Miss Parker. I think the only person who is innocent in all this is Finn."

"And Angelo," Sydney added.

"And Angelo," Jarod conceded. He wanted to repay Angelo for his help over the years, especially for saving Finn, but he couldn't do that himself. Not now. "He'll need someone to look out for him," he said pointedly, looking directly at Sydney.

Sydney smiled and nodded again. He would be quite happy to take Angelo with him, wherever it was he ended up. Immediately that would be his cabin but in the long term he wasn't quite sure - it was another aspect of his life that he'd assumed he would never have to deliberate over. His thoughts turned slowly to Michelle; The Centre had initially had a hand in keeping them apart and for that reason he had kept away from her once he'd found her again. Maybe, when the dust had settled, he would contact her again. He looked back to the pretender; "This is goodbye then?"

"For now," Jarod replied, much to Sydney's surprise. "You're important to me too Sydney," he explained, echoing his mentor's earlier words, "And to Parker as well. You've been a father figure to us both and I certainly don't want to lose that."

Sydney beamed wider and gave in to an impulse he had fought against for a long time. It only took a few steps to reach the younger man and embrace him lightly. To his delight Jarod reciprocated.

"I turn my back for five minutes," Miss Parker muttered, causing the two men to break apart.

Jarod turned to find her carrying Finn in both arms, a small bag slung over one shoulder. He quickly stepped towards her and carefully extricated the bag from her shoulder. "You travel light," he smiled at her.

"I have all I need right here," she said referring to her son. She had started to pack with vigour but her eyes had caught the small body laid on her bed and everything else had seemed insignificant. She'd packed a few clothes and some photographs, the rest could stay. Then she'd taken one last look around her bedroom, as she would do with every room in the house, and closed the door shut, in effect closing a chapter of her life.


	12. This Understanding

i) Thanks to NYT, Sirus183, Bucky, leochick, phi4858, and Topanga. I appreciate your comments and it cheered me up to read your words after finally being allowed home!

No Distance Left To Run

Chapter Twelve

This Understanding

Jarod stretched his long body, trying to get rid of the last few knots garnered during the journey to Ben's. Finn smiled contentedly from the carrier, that had also doubled as a car seat; Jarod had silently congratulated himself on purchasing it as part of his preperations. Miss Parker had seemed reasonably impressed too, so he hadn't admitted that he'd actually bought half a dozen just in case Finn wasn't their only child. She was already put out by his disclosure that he'd had a house virtually under her nose for so long.

"Do you want to stretch your legs too?" he said softly, unbuckling the clasp that secured his son. Finn watched his every move closely, a wave of concentration present on his small face, and Jarod wondered how advanced the boy was. He hadn't had chance to read the file that Parker had obtained though Ethan had given him a brief overview of its contents; Finn was progressing at a normal rate, something The Centre hadn't seemed too concerned about. Freeing the boy's arms he lifted him out of the carrier and into his arms, Finn smiling again once he was free. The child's eyes darted around the room to gaze at his surroundings from the different vantage point before settling back on Jarod. The news that he had only one son both pleased and saddened him; the former because he didn't want any child of his to be trapped there, the latter he had trouble understanding.

"He likes his freedom," Ethan observed softly, unintentionally breaking the moment between father and son.

Jarod smiled as Finn turned to look at his uncle. "Don't we all," he said, his mind turning to Miss Parker. She had been very subdued duing the journey to Ben's, preferring to sit in the back of the car with Finn. He suspected that her impending confrontation with Ben was the cause but he now wondered if it was the realisation that she was finally free, for the first time in her life, from The Centre that was troubling her. On arriving at Ben's she had told him, when he'd gently asked, that she was okay, just eager to speak to Ben. He hadn't found the opportunity to ask her further as they'd gotten caught up in greetings and introductions. He just hoped she _was _okay.

* * *

"It's so nice to see you again," Ben smiled, walking into the room to find Miss Parker sat quietly. The younger men had insisted on taking over in the kitchen despite his protests. Jarod had argued that since they had turned up without any prior warning it was the least they could do and Ben had eventually conceded. Jarod had carefully suggested that he could use the time to talk to Miss Parker and he had to admit that he was curious about the circumstances of his guests' arrival, if not by the two new faces then by the fact that he was finally seeing both Jarod and Miss Parker together. They usually arrived seperately.

Miss Parker smiled briefly, "It's good to see you too, Ben." She opened her mouth to speak again then changed her mind. She had thought about the various ways to approach Ben on the journey but now she was here they all seemed inadequate. She desperately wanted her answers but a part of her feared them too.

"He's adorable," Ben said, breaking the silence and watching that smile briefly appear.

She nodded mutely. She'd let Jarod take Finn once they were all inside the house, even if he couldn't understand what was being said she didn't want him there. But she missed her boy immediately. She found it increasingly difficult to understand how a parent could do anything other than love their children. "He's your grandson," she blurted out, "Isn't he?"

Ben didn't respond. His heart beat quickly in his chest as the young woman stared at him expectantly, the resemblance to her mother never failing to affect him. He looked away nervously.

"Are you my father?" she asked, standing up and walking towards Ben with more confidence than she felt. She took a photograph from her pocket, one of the few she had decided to take with her. "Are you?" she repeated softly, holding the picture out to him and he finally brought his attention back to her.

Ben slowly took the photo from her, dropping his eyes to the three people on it: himself, Catherine Parker, and her daughter. That's how he'd always thought of the woman in front of him now: Catherine's daughter. He sighed softly. "I don't know," he replied honestly.

She exhaled slowly the breath she'd been holding onto. "But it's possible." The last time she had been here Ben had never given her any indication that he could be her father. Then again, she hadn't asked him directly either. The impression she'd gotten that day was that whatever had been between Ben and her mother had happened long after she herself had been born.

"This was the only time she ever brought you here," Ben explained quietly, his mind returning to that day. "I only saw her once a year... So it was quite a surprise when she turned up that time with you. I hadn't even known she was pregnant." He paused, turning that memory over in his mind as he had on many previous occasions. How his first thoughts at that time had been regarding the paternity of Catherine's child.

"Ben..."

He looked up at her, to the pleading in her eyes. "We had an 'understanding'. I never asked her. And she never said so, but yes... It's possible you are my daughter." He could only smile weakly as he watched her features slowly change. He felt guilty for misleading her previously.

She found herself only vaguely surprised. Everything she had discovered about her mother in the last five years had taught her that she hadn't really known her at all, not as other people knew her anyway. Her mother had lied to her, just like everyone else. For years a part of her had hated her mother for taking her own life and leaving her alone; when it had seemed that she had been murdered, she'd reverted back to her childhood idolisation of her mother and found it gave her the strength to look for more answers. That she had faked her death and lived on for a further six months while Miss Parker suffered not so far away had been another recent hurtful revelation even if it seemed that Catherine Parker had very little choice in the matter; she had done what she had thought was right. Maybe she'd had similar reasons for keeping Ben out of their lives too. But what about Ben himself? She inhaled deeply. "Did you never want to know?"

"You made your mother so happy. She'd wanted you for such a long time. I was... willing to leave it at that." He paused thoughtfully, staring into the young woman's eyes - eyes that begged the question 'why?'. He had promised himself that he would never pursue this particular avenue, yet here he was spilling everything. He'd managed to avoid the question for so long, right until Jarod had turned up asking about Catherine, and then about her daughter. When Miss Parker had turned up not long after that he was already beginning to dwell once more upon the topic. "And I was afraid that if I asked her it would spoil everything."

"I don't understand," she said shaking her head.

Ben smiled briefly, taking one of her hands in his and leading her back to the sofa. Sitting down next to her he released his hold on her, using his hand to hold onto the other side of the photo she had produced. He stared at it for a short while. "If I'd asked your mother she might have said yes and then everything would have changed. I would have asked her to stay with me and that would have put more pressure on your mother. She was torn enough as it was, she'd made vows to her husband that she felt she had to keep." His words were as good as a confession but it was still only speculation on his part. There were many things that Catherine had kept from him but he was complicit in that secrecy - he never pushed her for answers. He had always thought he had done the right thing by not asking her but then one year she didn't turn up. He had no way of contacting her, he didn't even know where she lived or where she worked. All he could hope for was that she had escaped - a hope that was dashed a few years ago. Maybe with hindsight he should have asked.

"I need to know Ben," she whispered softly, her voice breaking his concentration. He looked back to her, his warm eyes so sad. She couldn't understand how her mother had been able to leave him every year, he clearly loved her and she must have felt something concrete for him to come back each year.

"What if I'm not your father?" Ben asked gently. "The other reason I was afraid to ask your mother was because the answer might have been 'no'."

"I just want the truth Ben. I've been lied to for a long time, by the people I loved." As she spoke she realised that Ben too had lied to her in a way. "If you're not my father..." she paused, "You've got to be my father because otherwise it means Mr Parker really is a heartless bastard."

"What did he do to you?" Ben asked, his stomach lurching at the thought that he was somehow to blame. As he had done many times in the past he berated himself for letting Catherine walk away each Spring.

Miss Parker smiled sadly, ready to admit a truth she had only just come to terms with; "Lied to me for years, lied to me about... Everything." She swallowed at the lump forming in her throat but it continued to grow. "I would have done anything for him... I have done some awful things for him and he betrayed me. He stole my son."

"He took Finn?" Ben asked increduously. He sat the photo down on the empty seat next to him and took hold of her hand again. "You must have been distraught."

"I didn't even know," she said quietly, feeling his warm hands enclose her own. "Finn was created without our knowledge, my f... He even got his second wife to act as surrogate." She swallowed again at the lump, wondering if her treatment by Mr Parker was because he knew she wasn't really his daughter. Maybe he'd suspected all along.

"So you took him, you rescued your son," Ben said quietly, piecing the bits together. He had to admit to being just a little surprised when she'd turned up with Jarod and the boy. She smiled at him, adding that maybe she was just like her mother after all. "How could he do that to you?" Ben muttered out loud.

"It's the 'why' I'm interested in Ben." She shook her head sadly at the thought, "I know that we've descended on you without any warning or invitation..." She tapered off, his eyes smiling encouragingly at her, making her stumble over her next words. "Did my mother ever say anything about her work? About her plans?" It was a long shot, Ben had already said that her mother didn't talk about her life at The Centre, only her feelings. But he had also mislead her.

Ben smiled weakly, inhaling deeply before beginning. "The last time I saw your mother she seemed so... Determined. Something had changed, I think she could finally see a way out, an end." He paused, searching his memories for anything significant. "She did say something about breaking an old deal."

"You mean making a deal?"

"No," Ben disagreed, "She said breaking it. But she never told me any details, I'm sorry." The hopeful part of him had held on to the chance that Catherine had been referring to her marriage.

Miss Parker rolled the words over her mind; it was an odd thing to say but she couldn't attach any significance to it.

Ben smiled again, this time with more feeling. "She also said she would find her way back to me, once the dust had settled - whatever that meant."

Miss Parker sighed softly before smiling too; "I think it meant she loved you Ben."

* * *

"She wants him to be her father."

Jarod nodded. He'd seen it too but given the alternative candidate for that position he could quite understand why she wanted it to be Ben. He just hoped that he was right, that Ben was her father. "She just wants to know who she is, Ethan." He lifted Finn up in the air with both hands and the infant giggled happily.

"Like you."

"Yes," he replied uncertainly, swinging his son back down again. The Centre had kept his past from him for too long. His mind wandered dangerously close to that subject again and he sighed inwardly. It was very possible that the answer to the question he had sought out for so long was going to hurt. He had avoided thinking about it on the journey to Ben's but he couldn't do so any longer. He still wanted to know the truth and he felt he was closer than he'd ever been. "I should phone Dad," he said, looking at Finn. He didn't think his father knew anything more - surely he would have told him if he did? But he felt he should let him know what had happened.

"Right," Ethan answered uncomfortably.

Jarod looked up. His brother avoided his gaze nervously. "I'm sure he'd like to speak to you," he said carefully.

Ethan swallowed hard. Finding out about his mother was relatively safe; once he knew it was her voice he could hear he knew exactly how she felt. His father was an altogether different prospect and one he didn't feel like facing right then, even via telephone. "Jarod... I don't feel ready just yet." He met his brother's eyes only when he'd finished the sentence.

"Okay," Jarod said, understandingly. "I'll let him know that you're safe - is that okay?"

Ethan smiled apologetically and nodded. "Sorry Jarod, I know how much you want your family together."

"It's okay Ethan," he soothed, "I'm still having problems picturing your sister playing happy families," he added, only half joking. "When you want to know more, just say."

"Okay," he agreed, smiling more easily this time. He did want to meet his father, and his other sister eventually, but there was something he would need to do first. The whispering in his head had begun once again and as much as he wanted to spend more time with Jarod and Miss Parker, and their son, he recognised that the voices, her voice, hadn't let him down yet. "There is one thing I'd like to know," he said seriously. Jarod raised his eyebrows. "How it is that you volunteered to cook yet I seem to be doing all the work?"

* * *

Jarod ended the call distractedly. He'd waited until after they'd eaten to phone his father. The meal had passed fairly quietly, Parker had still seemed subdued but he hadn't found the right time to ask her how it had went with Ben, if she had received the news she wanted. It was obvious that something had passed between them though.

He slipped the phone into his pocket and went back inside the house. He had found it difficult to ask his father if he knew anything without sounding accusational so, instead, he had dropped what Alex had said about being a Parker casually into the conversation at which point his father had expressed his own surprise. There had followed a muted silence, only quashed when his father spoke up, suggesting they meet up soon. Jarod didn't want to voice the possibility that he wasn't the Major's son, it was something that had niggled at the back of his mind since he'd come across NuGenesis and now it was threatening to expand. He forced the thought away.

He walked further into the house looking for Parker; there was a more pressing problem he wanted to face. He found her sat comfortably on a sofa, Finn snuggled up in her arms, his head resting over her heart. Jarod paused just in front of the doorway of the room, taking up a similar position to the one he'd held earlier that day at her house, mesmerised once more. There was just something so enchanting about the scene in front of him. He was long since past denying his attraction towards her but it just seemed to grow exponentially when she was with their son. And he was going to encounter that every day now so he needed to be honest with her.

It didn't take long for her to notice his presence, her eyes drawing up to his almost instantly. Her face didn't give much away and he stepped into the room, coming to a halt in front of her. He thought about taking a seat next to her, then talked himself out of it only realising he was stood there like an idiot when it was too late. "Did Ben tell you what you wanted to hear?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"He said it was possible I was his daughter," she admitted, "And he's agreed to a blood test to find out once and for all. Will you do it Jarod?"

"Of course," he nodded quickly. "I can check us all again if you'd like...?"

"Thank you," she said softly, smiling briefly. "How about you? Ethan said you were calling your father?"

He sighed, revisiting his earlier dilemma, but this time he decided to sit down next to her. His new position allowed him to watch his son's face as he slept contentedly on her chest. He cautiously stroked the small cheek that wasn't pressed against her, his smile growing as he did so and keenly aware that she was watching him closely. "He wants to meet his grandson," Jarod offered in response, trying to ignore the real question at hand. For a long moment he thought he'd been successful.

"You're worried he's not really your father," she said as he continued to avoid her eyes. He stilled his actions, retracting his hand slowly.

"And that my mother is not really my mother," he added, finding her gaze again. "That I've been looking for answers in all the wrong places." She held his eyes and he found the clear blue a soothing sight. He had been briefly surprised to discover that Finn had inherited that feature from his mother, surprised and pleased.

She smiled sympathetically. They'd spent so long trying to find answers to their pasts, at several points Jarod had steered her towards a different track but she was beginning to believe that they were both beholden to the same path. "I think you were looking in the right place all along - your mother. We know she met my mother, maybe they both had the same plan..."

Jarod nodded silently in agreement. Alex had insinuated once again that The Centre had kept him apart from Margaret for a very good reason. His father could shed no light, maybe his mother would. He still needed to find his mother. He had promised himself that he would drop his pursuit once he and Parker had taken their son because he didn't want to risk their safety but even with The Centre gone the Triumverate were still a possible threat. He was going to have to decide, though in his heart he already had. He hadn't realised how strong his feelings for his child would be and, right then, he couldn't imagine spending his time and energy on anyone other than Finn. Except, perhaps, Parker.

His eyes fell to his son again and he laid his hand on Finn's back, deftly avoiding contact with the boy's mother. The silence continued; it wasn't uncomfortable, in fact it almost felt like he was home, which was strange as he'd always pictured a home as being a place rather than a feeling. He risked a glance at Parker and she smiled a little uneasily at him. He took a deep breath. "Parker," he began softly, but she interrupted him.

"Don't, Jarod." His face fell and she felt a pang of regret for sounding so harsh. She had a feeling she knew what he was going to say, what he had been wanting to say all day, and what she had been trying to avoid. The problem was, she was struggling herself; she was stuck somewhere between wanting him but afraid of needing him - and not wanting to admit to either. She checked herself; hadn't she promised herself a life without lies. His eyes held such sadness that she crumbled. "Chances are that's not my name, so please don't use it anymore."

He nodded dumbly, feeling quite relieved. He hadn't been expecting that. "Michaela," he whispered, the word sounding strange after all those years, "I haven't been honest with you."

She froze; a little voice whispered, rather smugly, that she had been wrong about his intentions and this is what she would get for even thinking of risking her heart. "About what?" she asked carefully.

"About us," Jarod said quietly and her eyes darted away quickly. "I know I gave you the impression that I regretted what happened between us but... I don't. I thought you did so I lied." The words hadn't come out as eloquently as he'd hoped but they still held the truth. All he could do was wait for her response. And wait.

She breathed in and out very carefully, measuring each breath. "I lied too," she whispered eventually, finally looking back to him. Less than twelve hours ago she'd come so close to losing everything and now it was all within her grasp. "I lied because I was scared Jarod." His eyes gazed warmly at her and she felt his hand slip on top of hers as their son continued to sleep on. "I still am."

"I would never intentionally hurt you," Jarod argued softly.

Miss Parker nodded; "I know that..." she started, searching for the right words. He gazed at her intently and she knew he understood how hard this was for her.

"I do want you in my life Jarod. As the father of my child. As my friend. And... more than that." He smiled at her; not that annoying grin that he would throw at her in the past but a genuine smile. "I just need some time."

Jarod nodded and rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand.

She didn't know how long she would need, declaring such a statement to begin with seemed like a big enough hurdle to clear but she did want to take her time. Finn had to come first but she knew Jarod was going to come a very close second. If they could tackle being friends first she felt they would stand a greater chance of having a future together and she couldn't really say that they were friends, not yet. At best they were allies; Jarod might know a great deal about her - she suspected more than anyone else ever had - but he didn't know everything, she would have to change that eventually and opening up to people wasn't easy for her. And though she trusted him to an extent, a trust that had been grudgingly bestowed over the years, it wasn't enough; she needed to trust him completely and not automatically jump to the conclusion that he was withholding things from her as she had that morning when Alex had made his grand announcement. The same applied to Jarod too. She could say that she knew a great deal about the pretender, perhaps better than anyone save for Sydney, but most of her knowledge was tied to the past, to their childhood. Though she knew that essentially he was the same sweet boy she'd met in the depths of The Centre - hours of interviewing the recipients of his pretends supported this - she didn't know all that much about his years on the run, other than what he wanted her to know. There were gaps - gaps that she wanted filling.

"Then we'll take our time," he said, letting go of her hand, "Get to know our son, get to know each other. When we're both ready, how about we take a step towards.. each other." He knew he was smiling widely but he couldn't help himself. Despite the past, and whatever happened in the future, she was finally willing to give him a chance.


	13. Piece By Piece

i) Thanks to a reader.

ii) 'Just about when it's alright there's you and I: we'll find our way' (OCS)

No Distance Left To Run

Chapter Thirteen

Piece By Piece

Jarod paced nervously, pausing only to check through the window once more. His stomach bubbled with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. He and his father had planned everything very carefully; Charles, Emily and Caleb were taking every precaution - just as he and Parker had. Five years of looking over his shoulder made it difficult for him to relax and with good reason. They were late, which led his overactive mind down some very dark roads.

"Would you just sit down and take a deep breath," Miss Parker sighed, "If anyone has a right to be nervous it's me."

He turned around to find her sat on the floor with their son, building blocks being the boy's new obsession. There was currently a small tower under construction, Parker acting as supervisor, Finn as builder. She may have looked relaxed but he doubted that was the case; his family were about to descend upon them and whilst he had worried about the logistics of such an event he had also felt her tension rise as the day drew nearer. Now she was as good as admitting she was worried. "You have no reason to be," he said softly, "They're all looking forward to meeting you."

She snorted lightly. "Finn maybe, not me." Finn rose to his feet and she instinctively held out a hand to steady him. He placed another block on top of the tower, a green one - his favourite colour - and grinned at her triumphantly. "They can't wait to meet you," she said returning his smile and scooping him up in her arms. "You're going to meet your Grandfather," she said to Finn, standing him in her lap, "And your Aunt and... " she paused briefly, thinking of the clone The Centre had made of Jarod, "Your other Uncle, I guess."

"You're wrong you know," Jarod said slowly, walking towards her and Finn.

"Then how would you describe Caleb?" she dodged.

"About my family," he said sternly, knowing what she was doing. She sighed and finally looked at him.

"I guess we'll find out soon enough." Finn turned in her arms, holding his own out to his father. Jarod leant down and consented, resting Finn easily in one arm so they were at eye level. Miss Parker watched them quietly, a small smile on her lips. With one arm around his father's shoulder Finn used the other to point to the window and Jarod walked them both back over to the other side of the room. She continued to stare at them, still smiling. For the briefest of moments when Jarod had picked Finn up their hands had brushed together; the area of contact was still tingling. "What are you going to tell them about... Us?" She was sure he tensed slightly at the question before he turned his head towards her.

Finn continued to stake out the view as his parents talked. "The truth," Jarod said honestly. What that was he didn't quite know at that moment. It hadn't been that long since they'd come to their understanding, barely a month - and half of that time had been spent with other people. They had remained at Ben's for some time after the tests had proven that he really was Parker's biological father. Ethan had stuck around for most of that time too, so this - nearly two weeks by themselves - was the real test. And he wasn't sure how they were doing. They both adored their son and in that respect he found that they could work together extremely well. Parker seemed to thrive in her new role as a mother though he had never doubted her capacity in that respect. His main concern was their safety, something that she wouldn't let him do alone, taking some of the burden from him. Without any outside influences he found her relatively easy to get along with, even her stubborness failed to dampen his optimism. As they planned out each move together, Parker proved she was as clever, insightful and as thorough as he'd always known she was. It was when they didn't have anything to distract them, that he began to doubt himself. They would encounter awkward silences. Small talk seemed to take them, inevitably and painfully, back to The Centre. In one way or another that place had filled the majority of their lives. On the other hand, six months ago he never thought they'd ever get this far.

"And what is the truth?" she said, dropping her eyes to the floor. Spying the blocks she idly picked one up and added it to the tower, knowing Finn would realise immediately and swap it for another green one. Not getting an answer she glimpsed back at him, finding his eyes resting on hers.

"That we're friends," he ventured. She smiled at him, nodding her head and he let out the breath he'd been holding. Finn tugged at his shirt and he turned back to the window to find a car pulling up outside.

* * *

"So what exactly is going on between you two?"

"Emily!" Charles scolded. He turned to Jarod to find his son smiling slightly, "You don't have to answer that."

Jarod sat back on the sofa, slightly bemused that this was the first question they'd thrown at him. Parker had taken Finn upstairs for his afternoon nap, which would probably be a long one as the boy had spent a lot of energy the previous hour charming the pants off his new family. At least they'd waited until she'd reached the top of the stairs before the inquisition started. He thought it had gone quite well, Parker had been nothing but polite, masking her own insecurities very capably, to which his family had reciprocated fully. The only strange moment had been when Jarod had tried to introduce her to Caleb only to be met by a chorus of 'we've already met'. There seemed to be an instant bond between her and his clone which he felt rather envious of; he was going to ask her about it later as both her and Caleb had shrugged off the questioning glances that had followed their introduction. "There's nothing going on," Jarod said honestly.

Emily smirked. "Nothing yet," she muttered under her breath. All heads turned back to her again and she smiled as sincerely as she could. "She seems nice, not what I was expecting at all," she covered, neatly changing the subject.

"She is nice," Caleb said from his seat on one end of the sofa. At the other end Jarod turned to him and he felt his cheeks redden. Everyone in the room seemed to be waiting for an elaboration on his statement, especially his brother. He shifted uneasily in his seat. He wasn't sure why he'd never told anyone about his short encounter with Miss Parker; maybe because it was an experience that was uniquely his. His first step on a different path to the one the man he was copied from had taken. Thankfully his almost rescuer from his past returned at that moment, this time managing to, albeit unknowingly, complete his rescue.

"Out like a light," Miss Parker explained as every head in the room turned to face her, Caleb's with an obvious sense of relief. "What?" she asked defensively.

Jarod sensed the shift immediately; without Finn to hide behind she was obviously feeling wide open. He stood quickly, taking a step towards her but Emily got in first.

"We were just wondering what was going on."

"With the Triumverate," Charles chipped in, changing the meaning of the sentence and casting his daughter a warning glance.

Miss Parker's gaze scanned the room before settling on Jarod. "Is that right..." she said slowly.

"Close enough," Jarod appeased, knowing she wasn't buying it but feeling too uncomfortable to say what it was they were talking about. She seemed happy to let it go though.

"And have we reached any conclusions?" Parker asked breezily.

Jarod turned as she brushed past him, watching her take the seat he had just vacated whilst exchanging smiles with Caleb. For all her lightness he knew she was still on guard. He felt the best thing to do was carry on; the Triumverate was one of the reasons they'd all convened. "Well," he began slowly, "Now that the media coverage has died down, my guess is that the Triumverate will up their interests."

"They already have," Charles said quietly, causing his son and Miss Parker to turn their attentions to him. "Though the large scale interest shown by the government and the media seems to be keeping them at a distance for now. Caleb and I have been tracking communications between the Triumverate and one of The Centre's satellite offices for a short while."

"They started not long after the explosion," Caleb explained, "From what we've been able to establish there seems to be some confusion about the actual events, with one main advantage: the Triumverate aren't sure who perished that day."

"What do you mean?" Miss Parker asked the young man who so resembled Jarod.

After getting a reassuring nod from the Major, Caleb responded. "They know you were there that day," he said, gazing at Miss Parker, "And they seem certain that Alex was the protaganist. That neither of you have reappeared - along with several others - is leading them towards certain conclusions, namely that you're dead."

"They won't let it drop so easily," Miss Parker asked, turning to Jarod, "Will they?"

Jarod shrugged his shoulders. He hadn't known his father and Caleb had been doing their own investigations but he was impressed. And he'd love to see the information they had gathered.

"Why not?" Emily asked out loud but looking directly at Jarod. "The authorities seem to be heading down that road." She now had everyone's attention. "There's very little left of The Centre and it's going to be impossible to determine exactly how many people perished."

"How do you know that?" Jarod demanded softly, asking the question that was on everyone's lips. He had himself considered infiltrating the government's investigation just to see how far along they were - and how much they had learnt. However, apart from the unneccesary risks that would involve (if they'd found any files on himself, any photos...) his main concerns were still his family: Finn and Parker.

Emily smiled guiltily, catching her father's eye. She hadn't told him or Caleb about this. "I have a few contacts from my time with the newspaper; though nothing has been released to the public yet I have it on very good authority that there are approximately twenty people unaccounted for - their homes empty, bank accounts untouched."

"Twenty?" Miss Parker echoed hollowly. That meant others must have taken the opportunity to disappear too. She hoped Sam was amongst them. During a brief phone call with Sydney he had told her of his brief meeting with the sweeper she had always held in high esteem so she knew Sam had made it out.

"You're one of them," Emily confirmed, "The Chairman's daughter." She kept her voice neutral as she spoke but she sensed both Miss Parker and Jarod bristle at the last two words; there was a story behind that, she thought. "According to my source, those employees who hung around aren't saying a great deal. The authorities are scratching their heads."

"Most employees were blissfully unaware of The Centre's real dealings anyway," Jarod said morosely.

Emily caught Miss Parker's eyes turning to her brother, watching Jarod closely; her brother's pursuer was still keeping tabs on him though from what she could see she suspected Miss Parker's interest in Jarod now had little to do with The Centre. "Mom must have seen the news too, Jarod," she soothed, "She's probably just waiting for the dust to settle..."

"Yeah," Jarod agreed. The exact same thought had crossed his mind but then where was she?

"Why don't I make some coffee?" Miss Parker said quietly, sensing this was a very familial moment and one she didn't want to intrude upon. She sighed inwardly when she heard Emily volunteer to help. Walking into the small kitchen with Emily on her heels she didn't even bother to begin with the beverages. Reaching the far counter she stopped and slowly turned around. Jarod's sister stayed on the opposite side of the room and smiled sweetly at her.

"Shall I make a start?" the younger woman asked.

"With the coffee or have you something else on your mind?"

Emily found herself liking Miss Parker. She wasn't expecting to. She didn't think it would be possible to find the woman who had hounded her brother for five years, whilst working for the people who had tore her family apart, so amiable. When her father had told her of Jarod's plans she'd been surprised to say the least; not by The Centre's actions, they would stoop to any level; and not by Jarod's actions, she knew family was important to him; but by Miss Parker's actions. She realised she probably would never be able to appreciate how such a betrayal must have hurt but that she then wanted to leave, and with Jarod, told her a lot about the beautiful woman her brother so obviously adored. As did the way she'd caught Miss Parker looking at Jarod. She just wanted to be sure. "I was just thinking how nice it was to finally meet you..."

Miss Parker took a long, deep breath. There was nothing in Emily's tone to suggest anything negative but she still kept up her defences. She would remain calm though, for Finn's sake. And Jarod's too. "I'm sensing there's a 'but' coming."

"I guess I'm just waiting for the mask to slip," Emily admitted slowly. She felt a twinge of guilt at saying as much but she felt she had to be the cautious one. Jarod was obviously biased. And for that matter so were her father and Caleb too. She had known that Charles had met Miss Parker previously, though he hadn't been very forthcoming about the details, and Caleb's disclosure was a surprise to all.

"When I whip out my gun and threaten you," Miss Parker said sadly, crossing her arms in front of her but losing some of her anger.

"Sorry," Emily said with a sigh. Miss Parker's response was compounding that fleeting feeling of guilt into something more and she really didn't want to get off to a bad start with the woman she felt certain was going to be a permanent part of her family. "It's just that your brother was the epitome of charm, right up until he pushed me out of a window."

Miss Parker was quiet. Lyle had been creeping into her thoughts for a while now. Having finally established her own parentage once and for all, and finding a great deal of closure with the confirmation, she'd reluctantly told Ben about her brother. Truth was something she held in great esteem but it had been difficult to try and explain Lyle's behaviour. "He saved my life," she said softly, staring directly into Emily's eyes. And he had done just that, he'd stood between her and Alex and taken a bullet that was intended for herself. In retrospect she could see that his behaviour in the weeks leading up to that day now seemed obvious; he had known, or at least suspected, what was going to happen and he'd done all he could to get her to leave. She just hadn't been able to trust him, he'd never earnt that privilege. Just as she'd never earnt Emily's. "You have every right to be suspicious," she said evenly, feeling Emily's gaze on her, "But I don't use charm to manipulate people."

Emily smiled slightly, amazed at the changes that had swept across the other woman's face before she'd replied.

"I've always found the threat of violence more effective."

Emily's smile grew wider. She really liked this woman.

* * *

Jarod locked and bolted the door behind him and sighed softly to himself. The few hours he had spent with the rest of his family had been enjoyable and also very revealing. He felt refreshed by the whole experience and just a little relieved that it was now over. Having everyone in one place was a risk, even if that risk seemed to have diminished slightly. Plotting the next reunion would involve the same amount of effort and, on his part, worry but that would be in the future. The life that stretched out in front of him at that moment though was one of hiding and running. Even now he had Parker and their son, his life still demanded that layer of deceit just to remain safe.

With that thought heavy on his mind he strolled around the ground floor of the house, eventually finding Parker and Finn in the small garden to the rear of the house, the last of the day's sunlight bathing them in golden rays. He stood at the back door, watching them together and feeling his heart lighten at the sight. Parker turned and smiled at him. They would have to move address again of course, if only to appease his sense of paranoia.

"What's wrong?" she asked, walking towards him, Finn held in her arms. She had expected him to be positively beaming but he seemed distracted.

Jarod pasted on a smile. "Just thinking," he said as she drew nearer, "About something Emily said to me."

"Oh," Parker said casually, "Was it about your mother?"

"Yes," he said guardedly, "Did she tell you?" When she and Emily had disappeared into the kitchen he'd felt suddenly nervous. His sister was naturally curious, and very protective of her family, and Parker wasn't known for her patience. Scenes of a very violent nature had flashed through his head and he'd been on his feet to intervene before anything could even begin but his father had stopped him. When both women had reappeared ten minutes later, seemingly unperturbed, he'd been forced to admit his father had been right. It hadn't stopped him from sitting on the edge of the sofa for those ten minutes though, keenly listening out for any sign of confrontation.

"No," Parker replied with a smile that she knew would only be construed as teasing.

"What were you two talking about?" Jarod asked as casually as he could. She smirked again and he knew he'd never get to find out; Emily had been as equally unforthcoming when he'd cornered her about it and had swiftly changed the subject of the conversation to what was preying on his mind now.

"This and that," Miss Parker replied through her smile. It felt easier talking to him now, as if some piece had finally fallen into place. "So what did Emily say?"

He couldn't help but smile in return. In her arms Finn fidgeted and rubbed at his eyes with one small fist before nestling further into Parker. "That she always got the impression that once she and Mom had found me, everything would be different."

"Different how?"

"That there'd be no more running. No more hiding. Everything would change."

Parker considered his words carefully. "How would finding you change that?" She held Finn tighter in her arms, a sense of dread creeping up on her.

"I don't know," Jarod admitted slowly. "Emily said that Mom never said anything more specific than that. She's spent her whole life on the run, maybe Mom was just trying to comfort her..." Maybe his Mom would have gone public once she'd found him and brought on the barrage of publicity that the bombing had done. But Alex had twice drawn his attention towards the fact that The Centre were desperate to keep him away from his mother. She knew something, something of great importance.

"Maybe," she agreed quietly, trying to keep her smile but failing. Ben had told her that her mother was going to break a deal; the last thing her mother was trying to do before her supposed death was rescue Jarod. She had the strangest feeling that Margaret was going to be the bearer of bad news.


	14. The Devil's In The Details

A/N I know it's been a year but... Every time I tried to write the last couple of chapters I was never happy with the end result. I'm still not entirely happy with it but I want to finish this story as it keeps popping into my head every time I try to write something else. I guess most people will have given up on the story and I do apologise to anyone who was following and then was just left hanging. Sorry. Last chapter is very nearly finished too and, barring any emergencies, should be up soon.

No Distance Left To Run

Chapter Fourteen

The Devil's In The Details

Marvelling at her son's deep, contented sleep, Miss Parker wasted another minute or two with him, watching his tiny chest rise and fall. At his side was the teddy bear she'd given him back at the Centre, it was never far from his grasp. He was blissfully unaware of the current situation but the sight of her son brought a sense of calm to her. She could stand there all night, indeed she had, on occasion, done just that. On nights when vague whispers, when her inner sense, prickled her; when nightmares recalling her last encounter with Alex stalked her dreams; and she couldn't sleep. She would stand guard over her son, his very existence instilling her with confidence and a fierce determination to protect him. But from what she couldn't quite place.

Media attention surrounding Blue Cove had virtually disappeared - such was the transient nature of the media. There seemed little risk a gaggle of journalists would be knocking at her door. But the authorities were still showing interest. Caleb had hacked into their system and confirmed what Emily had told them. Though there was a fine seam of information on the Centre, and its employees, it didn't really run very deep. There were speculations, theories and, for the man in charge of the investigation, a disatisfying lack of evidence to actually prove anything. Jarod had postulated that someone inside that investigation had probably had a hand in removing or dissembling any real facts that were discovered; they seemed unaware as to how far the Centre's reach extended as well. It didn't seem likely that 'men in black' would turn up on her doorstep either. The remote offices, the last tentacles of that empire, were running quiet for the moment; communicades continued to fly between them and Africa but no moves were being made to rebuild what had been lost. At least not yet. The Triumverate were, however, talking to those clients The Centre had left behind. That part didn't bode well but on the whole they were certainly being more cautious than Jarod had theorised. And that just made her more apprehensive.

Right then though, her uneasiness lay with one man. Jarod's whereabouts were currently unknown though that wasn't the root of her concerns - she knew he would come back to her and to their son. She was certain of that, just like she'd been certain that she wanted to spend her nights with the man she'd been spending all her days with.

Something had fallen into place for her after Jarod's family had visited. Their acceptance had meant more to her than she'd thought it would. Used to blazing her own trail it usually never bothered her what people thought of her; having them fear her, keeping their distance, was more important. Yet she'd wanted the Major and Emily to like her and not just because of her relationship to Finn. She'd wanted it to be because of Jarod. She'd wanted it for Jarod.

She'd found herself thinking more and more about that night she had taken Jarod to her bed but without the fear or doubts that had prevented her from doing so previously. She'd tried to convince herself that the night had been about comfort or, to her regret, even about getting back at her father for what he had done to her, to her and Jarod. But, maybe, it had been about the attraction that had always bubbled between them. That still did. Maybe it was about finally giving in to her own desires. Maybe it was so much _more_. And, when she'd really thought about it, she'd found herself at a point she felt very comfortable with. A point at which she realised she trusted Jarod implicitly. A point at which she was willing to put her heart, all of it, on the line. So she had and, so far, Jarod hadn't made her regret that decision. Not even now.

She was, however, worried as to why Jarod was missing; what had made him walk out of an event he had been longing for all his life? She had a good idea but those feelings just increased her concerns.

Not long after she'd 'reclaimed' Jarod, Ethan had turned up. She and Jarod had been happy to see their wandering brother again - he wasn't one for keeping in contact via the usual channels and they'd had to rely upon others to keep them up to date. Ethan had previously caught up with the Major, Emily and Caleb - much to Jarod's joy - but after only a few days their brother had left rather abruptly. As he had a habit of doing. However it turned out that he had a very good reason for doing so: Ethan had located Margaret.

It had been wonderful to see Jarod's reaction to that news. To be able to share his joy and happiness when Ethan had confirmed that Margaret was safe and well had been a privilege. Though their brother hadn't approached Margaret he had been certain she would be at the same location for a few more days. They'd had to move fast and the succeeding hours had been a whirl of activity; the rest of the family were promptly notified and arrangements were made to finally meet the woman missing from their lives for so long. Jarod's enthusiasm and excitement had been infectious though she couldn't shake the rising sense of dread within her. She'd sent a calmer Jarod off this morning, knowing his own apprehension was finally peeking through and doing all she could to quash it.

Parker herself had tactfully avoided the first meeting with Margaret as she felt it was a family affair even though Jarod had tried to persuade her otherwise. Truthfully though she dreaded what the woman would have to say. She knew Jarod had similar fears; they'd discussed it at length several times, just as they'd talked about all the other unresolved issues that still surrounded them. The things Alex had said. The file on their son that Lyle had left for her. The little pieces of information they had each picked up over the years from various sources. But they did all that without ever coming to any real conclusions - they had plenty of theories, they just needed the final pieces of the puzzle to see the whole picture. And Margaret obviously had some answers, why else had The Centre done everything it could to stop Jarod finding her.

"Where are Ethan and Caleb?"

She turned around slowly at the deep voice, more relieved than surprised. "They went for a walk - looking for you, I suppose," she replied, hiding the smile that had threatened to break free at his appearance. Jarod looked tired, the emotional impact of the last two days obviously catching up with him. "Your Dad phoned - he was worried about you. They all were."

Jarod nodded wearily but made no effort to reply. He had switched his own phone off, knowing it would only cause his family to worry further but he'd needed the quiet and solitude. He rubbed his head before running his hand over his face then brought his eyes back to her again.

With a quick glance over her shoulder to assure herself Finn was still sound asleep she took the few steps necessary to reach Jarod and, taking his hand in hers, she led him onto the landing. In the dash to reach Margaret Jarod had rented a small house, fairly close to his mother's general vicinity. The Major had made his own arrangements for everyone else but they weren't too far away. Leaving the door ajar she caught his gaze, waiting to hear exactly why he had walked out on his family over four hours ago. Major Charles hadn't said anything further and she hadn't asked. Whatever Jarod had discovered he would tell her eventually - he always did. Though in many ways their relationship had changed dramatically, some things still remained the same.

Jarod dropped his head, his eyes on her hand. She squeezed gently in response and his heart lifted. After everything that had happened he still had her. He just wondered for how much longer. Lifting his head to meet her eyes she smiled understandingly at him as if she could read him like a book. The morning had been everything he'd hoped for, everything he'd imagined it would be. His mother had been so happy to see him, to see them all. He smiled briefly at the memory; it had all started off so well. After all the hugs and kisses, the brief recaps of the missing years, Jarod couldn't exactly pinpoint the downturn the day had taken. But, perhaps inevitably, conversation had turned to The Centre. Jarod had been hoping to avoid that topic, at least for one day - but his mother hadn't. He'd listened silently to every word his mother had said, logging it all away for future refernce and only partly aware of his father and Emily being as surprised as he was. He wondered how they were coping with the news. "Did Dad tell you... Everything?"

"He didn't say too much," she replied, staring into his eyes and seeing the storm behind them. Gripping his hand, conscious of their son sleeping soundly, she began to move, "Let's talk downstairs."

Jarod let her lead him back down the stairs, settling on the sofa with her. Sat to his right, her hand still holding his, she waited for him to continue. He always seemed to be the one to tell her the truth and he still didn't know if that was a good thing or not. The truth always tended to be painful and she had a habit of attributing that pain to him. He took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, wondering exactly where to start. He'd had time to process what his mother had told him as he'd pounded the streets. Aimlessly wandering, his mind elsewhere, had given him the time and space to think everything through. When he was satisfied, or as much as he ever would be, he'd finally stopped to get his bearings only to find he was right outside the house. Even in his daze he'd walked right back to her. "I am a Parker," he blurted out bitterly.

Her eyes widened with that confirmation. When the blood tests had proven Ben really was her father she'd felt nothing but relief. Though a part of her would always think of Mr Parker as her father, a weight had been lifted by the knowledge she wasn't actually related to him or, by association, The Centre. She wasn't a Parker. A name she'd tried so hard to live up to had been consigned to her past. Except now it wasn't. That name was always going to haunt her. She scrabbled for her voice. "How?"

"Mom is Mr Parker's cousin," Jarod grimaced. He might have a different surname but he was a Parker by blood.

She shook her head, her mind tracing her family tree - Mr Parker's family tree - but not finding any verification. Her mother and Mr Parker had been the only family she'd ever known - there'd never been any others, even on her mother's side. The only other family she could claim were Lyle and Ethan. "I don't understand..."

"Mr Parker had an uncle," Jarod explained quietly, "But the child was adopted out of the family at birth." She continued to stare at him and he could understand how she felt, he'd been there himself not so long ago. "The Parker legacy already had a heir, my," Jarod paused briefly as it hit him again that he had more family now than he did twenty four hours ago, "Grandfather was surplus to requirements. Back then anyway."

"Wait a minute, Jarod," she interrupted, "Your mother knew all about this?"

"Not in the beginning. She barely remembers her father, he died when she was very young. Her mother later remarried and that was the man she thought of as her father. She didn't know anything about the Parker family tree, and her place in it, until your mother found her." Jarod rubbed his thumb soothingly over the back of her hand at the mention of her mother.

Parker nodded her head slowly. "Mom must have found out somehow," she began, not necessarily talking to Jarod, "She always was good at digging into The Centre's secrets." She smiled at that thought, at the memory of her mother. Then something Jarod had said registered with her. "What did you mean when you said your grandfather wasn't needed?"

He frowned slightly before answering. "The Parker family has always run The Centre, it's been passed down through the male line for generations. There was a deal - an understanding - between The Centre and the Triumverate, one forged at the Centre's beginnings; as long as there was a male Parker as chairman, and a heir to succede, the Triumverate would only ever have minimal control. My grandfather was the second son. With two claimants to the Parker legacy the line could have become fragmented so he was adopted out, a spare should the need ever arise. Which, eventually, it did."

"That's why they took you," she whispered, "You were next in line." She wasn't a Parker, therefore neither was Lyle. There were no other heirs.

Jarod nodded slowly but didn't correct her grammar. She was taking it all so well - so far.

"Then he always knew I wasn't his daughter."

Jarod sighed. Catherine Parker had confided so much in his mother; they had a common bond and goals. And his mother was distinctly outside of Centre control, someone Catherine Parker could trust. "From what Mom understood, Mr Parker was unable to father a child." Jarod had understood that there was more to be told about Catherine Parker but those details would be for her daughter only.

"And the Triumverate knew," she stated out loud. It would explain why they were always so hostile to her - she was an imposter. In the Triumverate's eyes she was no threat and held no real power.

"I think they must have suspected, though probably not until after The Centre had taken me. Raines was in the thick of things back then and I wouldn't put anything past him - though he'd have his own motivations for doing so."

"The old ghoul would. So they just shook the family tree and out you fell."

"It wasn't as easy as that. According to your mother they had difficulty locating my grandfather; so much time had passed by, records had been lost or hadn't been updated. My grandfather had moved around the country a great deal," Jarod explained. That he had died fairly young and his widow had remarried had helped muddy the waters too. "In the end they had it narrowed down to less than a dozen candidates and their offspring. The solution was a blood test." Jarod held up his free hand, extending his index finger, "A prick to the finger."

Miss Parker shook her head. "He would've been screwed if you weren't male."

"Or if my mother hadn't been born," Jarod agreed. That was why they'd taken Kyle too, much better to keep the 'spare' closer to hand this time. And that was why his mother had felt so guilty: she blamed herself.

"And the Pretender gene?" she asked.

"Like Alex said, a happy coincidence. They couldn't ignore the anomoly, the only thing they could do was exploit it. Exploit me and all the others." When his mother had told him about his heritage, about why he was really taken, he couldn't help but think of Alex; the man might have been mentally unstable but he had known the truth - which was more than Jarod had discovered. He could almost understand Alex's hatred towards him. And why he had been determined to destroy him and the Centre.

She stared at the floor for a beat. "But how were they going to pass the Centre on to you?" she asked slowly, "That must have been his intention for finding you. I don't understand how..." She stopped mid sentence, her eyes flickering between their joined hands and Jarod. She knew Mr Parker well; he had taught her a great deal over the years. "You don't think... ?"

The look on her face told him exactly what thought had struck her then. It had crossed his mind too and he was inclined to agree with her. The search had been to find the missing 'Parker', a heir to secure the Centre remained in Parker hands. Jarod supposed he was to have been re-educated with that in mind however profit and greed had over ruled that idea. "I never understood why they introduced us," Jarod smiled weakly. "You were such a bad influence on me," he added, trying to lighten the mood. It didn't work.

She took a deep breath; the last shred of loyalty to Mr Parker that she hadn't known still lingered, was swallowed up with anger at the lengths he'd been prepared to go to just to hold on to that damned place. She'd been manipulated from the start. He'd been willing to use her, she was just a pawn in his game - just like Jarod. Introducing them just at the right time, leaving them alone for hours at a time, waiting for nature and hormones to kick in. Mr Parker had always wanted their child. She briefly wondered if that was why Lyle had been taken and not her. She shook her head again, "If he knew I wasn't really his daughter he'd have had no qualms in using me as well but... Why did he change his mind? He sent me away to boarding school. He warned me against seeing you, told me so many awful things. He made me turn against you. Why?"

Jarod's smile faded; he hated the way Mr Parker still haunted her. "I'm not sure. Most of the things my Mom told me were passed on from your mother - anything that happened after she died we can only speculate on." He shrugged his shoulders. "I guess he found an alternative solution and pulled the plug on that particular idea; a solution that didn't require us to be involved directly."

She just nodded sadly. Their child had been brought into the world, without their consent, all at the whim of a man desperate to hold onto power. A man who tried to pass him off as his own son and in the process deny her that privilege.

Jarod watched her quietly, trying to gauge her feelings at that moment. Her eyes had grown darker with everything he'd said and he was amazed she was remaining so calm though her grip on his hand had tightened. "I think my continued absence finally forced Mr Parker's hand. When I was at The Centre he still had something to keep the Triumverate off his back."

She contemplated that for a moment, thinking about Brigette's pregnancy. How Brigette and Mr Parker had gone on the run from the Triumverate. Mr Parker had told her to keep chasing Jarod because he was 'the key'; once she had Jarod back at The Centre everything would go back to how it was before. "When he and Brigette went underground I always thought it was him the Triumverate wanted but maybe it was her." The Triumverate had applied increasing pressure with each year that Jarod had remained free. She'd felt that herself, they'd never been so overbearing in all the years before Jarod's escape. And the Triumverate would have been aware of the situation at The Centre thanks to Raines. If they had eliminated Brigette before she'd given birth, Mr Parker's position would have remained compromised. "As soon as Finn was born Mr Parker sauntered back into The Centre as if nothing had happened." She shook her head in disgust once more, "He even called our son the 'last piece'. He would never have told me about our child, would he?"

"No," Jarod agreed sadly. In Finn, Mr Parker had a genuine heir he could manipulate without losing his greatest commodity: Jarod himself.

She blinked a couple of times, letting everything sink in. She stood slowly, finally letting go of Jarod's hand. She began to pace the floor, running through it all again in her head as she tried to put it into some sort of order. Jarod had had the opportunity to do just that during his 'missing hours' and she wanted to catch up. Most of the things that had seemed odd over the years now made more sense. "No wonder The Centre wanted you back so badly," she said eventually.

Jarod nodded, sitting forward to watch her. She had stopped pacing the floor and was now stood in front of him but out of his reach. He knew she wouldn't like what his mother had told him; he wasn't too keen himself. The only good thing to come out of the whole twisted affair was their son. He just wondered how she would take the suggestion. "I can't work out if ordering you to chase me was an inspired decision or just plain madness," he pondered out loud, hoping to distract her a little. He knew it wouldn't be long before she asked the inevitable question. "Our friendship as childen meant that, along with Sydney, you were another tie to my past, to The Centre."

"Mr Parker wanted me to prove my loyalty to him and The Centre, Jarod. I don't think he ever envisaged it going on as long as it did." Looking at it now she wondered if Mr Parker had wanted her to use that friendship against Jarod. He'd never said as much but then, even at the start of the 'chase', Jarod was already making her question her past. "I don't think he thought you'd find out so much..."

"And cause you to question everything you'd ever known," he finished. She smiled grudgingly at that statement. "And, of course, they needed me alive - you'd never shoot me."

She snorted lightly. "Don't be so sure about that, genius. You pushed your luck, and my patience, on more than one occasion."

He smiled a little, "Yet you never actually physically hurt me, did you?" She rolled her eyes and ignored his question, she wasn't about to admit to that much. There was a brief silence and he knew his time was up. With answers to most of their questions now found there was only one way left to go.

"What do we do now?" she asked tentatively.

And there it was. Penance for falling in love with an intelligent, smart woman. He'd agonised over his decision but it seemed the only way even if she didn't agree. He took a deep breath. "Well," he began slowly, "Technically The Centre - or what's left of it - is mine." Her face fell and she stared hard at him, folding her arms across her middle.

"You want The Centre? Are you crazy?"


	15. The Other Side Is Just The Same

i) Last part. I know it seems like there should be more but this is all I ever planned to write. I might think of doing a follow up story at a later date. Apologies once again for the length of time it's taken to finish this and thanks to everyone who took the time to leave a review, especialy those who did so more than once.

No Distance Left To Run

Chapter Fifteen

The Other Side Is Just The Same

Ethan stopped abruptly, staring at the house ahead with its one light blazing downstairs. It took Caleb a couple of steps to realise his companion was no longer at his side. "What's wrong?" he asked quickly, stopping and turning around to face the other man. Even though they were no longer hiding from The Centre, they were still hiding and he immediately feared the worst. Ethan's face looked blank though, a sight Caleb had witnessed before. Aware that he might have to wait for a response Caleb stood his ground, only glancing around the street as a precautionary measure, to reassure himself further that there was no immediate threat. He saw nothing amiss so he turned his attention fully back to Ethan, scrutinising the other man carefully.

Ethan had turned up out of the blue the very day after they'd all returned from visiting Jarod and Miss Parker. That Ethan had found them without Jarod's assistance was Caleb's first introduction to the man's 'inner sense'. The day Ethan had disappeared, as abruptly as he'd arrived, Caleb had found Ethan sat outside alone, a similar look gracing the man's features as there was now; that had been Caleb's masterclass on Ethan's gift - a gift he'd confided that Miss Parker had too. For some reason Caleb found he trusted Ethan and his peculiar 'talent'.

The Major and Emily had been ecstatic to finally meet their respective son and brother. Caleb, faced with another person he was genetically linked to after a decade of being told he had none, found Ethan easy to get along with and he found it easy to think of the man as a sibling. That wasn't something he could say of Jarod. He both respected and trusted Jarod, he just found looking at the man he would one day become slightly disconcerting; it just didn't quite fit. It was the same with the Major too; though the older man had been a 'father figure' to him, and he had learnt a great deal about the world outside from him, Charles was old enough to be his grandfather. Margaret his grandmother. They weren't as he'd always imagined his parents to be and, in a way, they weren't. That's why, after a lot of discussion and without ever actually stating his real reasons, he had avoided today's reunion. He didn't need Ethan's 'inner sense' to know that Ethan had similar reasons for missing the event and Caleb was glad someone else found the whole situation awkward.

"Jarod's back," Ethan finally answered.

"That's good," Caleb muttered but Ethan didn't seem so sure. "Isn't it?"

Ethan snapped out of his gaze and looked at the younger man, considering the question. When he'd left Jarod and Miss Parker at Ben's place he'd set out to find Margaret. He knew how much Jarod longed to meet his mother but he understood that his brother's priorities had changed; Jarod now had Finn and Miss Parker to concern himself with. With his mother's gentle voice Ethan had set off to find Margaret but, not long into his search, he became aware of what he suspected was the reason Jarod had went missing this afternoon. Ethan had hesitated at that point. To him, only vaguely aware of the Centre's true nature and its twisted hold on both his brother and sister, it seemed too much. He'd anguished over the choice ahead of him, steadfastedly trying to ignore the voices that urged him forwards. After capitulating further for a day the voices - her voice - had relented, changed track and led him to his father. Something else he'd been avoiding but the lesser of two evils at that point.

Ethan smiled at Caleb, the younger man so like Jarod in appearance yet in other ways completely different. "Yeah," he replied, "It is a good thing but I should warn you - it's not going to be pretty."

"It never is," Caleb grumbled.

"Maybe we should give them another five minutes," Ethan offered and Caleb nodded his assent. Meeting his father had been a little awkward but Charles had been so open and welcoming, as had Emily and Caleb, that he'd regretted postponing the meeting for as long as he had. Yet his father's joy was tinged with a sadness that, though cleverly hidden on the outside, Ethan could feel burn on the inside and that, along with his mother's urgings, had finally convinced him that he needed to complete his mother's prophecy and find Margaret. For his father's sake and for Jarod's. The consequences would just have to be endured.

* * *

"You're serious aren't you?"

Jarod sighed softly. Though her voice remained calm he knew it was only for the benefit of their son sleeping upstairs. He could hear the anger simmering underneath, feel it in her piercing blue eyes. "It doesn't have to be like it was," he argued weakly. This was what he had feared. They had yet to argue; that wasn't to say their time together had been spent in constant harmony - far from it - but he knew this would be the first real test. Away from the Centre's influence she had softened but she still carried a lifetime of hurt, betrayal and loss within her soul. It saddened him to think that, no matter how hard he tried, he would probably never be able to fully placate those feelings, just as she'd never be able to truly quash his own demons. And right now he was asking a great deal of her, asking her to herself on the line once more. Just when they were finally getting together.

He'd been a little surprised, though ultimately pleased, at the recent turnaround in their relationship. She'd asked for time and he'd been more than willing to give her that. For a short time it had seemed that would be longer than he'd imagined but he'd still been willing to wait. It hadn't been easy getting to where they now stood; the past, recent and further back, seemed to hang over them like a shadow. But they'd rode out that storm and it had been her who'd decided it was time for them to both get what they wanted: each other. And now he was asking her to risk just that. "We could do this the right way. Together."

She opened her mouth to shout at him, to protest loudly, but bit it back. She didn't want to start fighting with him, not now. She turned around, breaking the contact between them, and took a step further away from him, inhaling a deep breath as she did so. She forced herself to remain calm so she could fully comprehend what he was asking of her. She trusted that there would be a reason behind his decision, probably a very good one, she just had to contain her immediate fears about returning to a past she'd only just escaped from, long enough to hear it.

"We'll spend the rest of our lives looking over our shoulders, moving from place to place. Always hiding from the world," Jarod continued softly on to her back. He could do that. He had done just that for the last five years and his family had been living that life for even longer. With her and Finn at his side he knew it would be easier than before too. His empty life on the road had only been filled by his pursuit for answers - an urge now sated - and the search for his family, which was now over. His need to help others, to redeem himself if only for his own sake, was something he would gladly forego for time with Parker and their son. But that wasn't the life he wanted for Finn or for her. The Triumverate just had to find somebody with her intelligence or as ruthless as Alex, worse still someone with both attributes, and they'd be back to running across the length of the country, the world even, evading capture and always fearing exactly who would show up on their doorstep. "If we make a stand now we wouldn't have to keep running."

She finally turned around. The last couple of months had been tumultuous but there'd been no Centre. No chasing. No claustrophobic feeling of being trapped in a life she didn't want. And she'd had her beautiful son to open her heart. His happy laughter, sweet smile and his inquisitive nature bowled her over every time; as did each time he called out for her. His first word had been 'Mama' and it had been the sweetest moment of her life. Her son was her world though his father was catching up very quicky; Jarod. A man who loved her even though she'd chased him constantly for too many years to mention; who knew all about the dark places inside of her and still accepted her; a man who loved her unconditionally. She'd almost missed that, this life she had now. A life she hadn't been so sure she'd wanted until it was there. She didn't want to risk any of that. She didn't want to take a backwards step, not after all she'd endured to get away from her past.

Her eyes, no longer hard, revealed her inner battle and he immediately regretted asking her, regretted letting his need for her, his desire to hold onto his family, overwhelm everything else; "I could do this myself," Jarod said softly, "You could take Finn and keep moving, keep hiding, until I can -"

"No," she said sharply and with certainty. That was almost the same offer he'd made her back at her house when he'd confirmed they were parents, sacrificing himself and his freedom for her and Finn. She hadn't taken it that night and she wasn't going to do so now. "No," she repeated, much gentler this time.

Jarod stared at her for a beat, unsure if that meant what he thought it did. He was about to clarify the situation further when he heard the muffled voices of Ethan and Caleb, followed by the sound of the door to the house opening and closing. He didn't need to confirm what his ears told him so he held Parker's gaze, searching for a visual sign of any kind but she turned her attention to the others as they walked into the room.

"What's going on?" Caleb asked quickly, as he noted Miss Parker's expression. His voice gave away his concern but he didn't care; this wasn't the Centre, he was allowed to show emotion - she'd taught him that the day she'd tried to help him. He looked accusingly at Ethan, feeling vindicated that, cold and bored, he had finally persuaded Ethan they should go into the house. Ethan merely shrugged his shoulders so he turned his attention to Jarod.

Jarod sighed quietly to himself. "You two should make yourselves comfortable."

* * *

Jarod watched the two men closely. Caleb seemed a little stunned but Ethan appeared unmoved, as he had throughout Jarod's narration of his recent discoveries; the former had asked several pertinent questions throughout the lengthy explanation whilst the latter had merely nodded his understanding at appropriate times, his dark eyes seeking out Miss Parker's every now and then when the conversation affected her directly. Jarod waited to see which man would ask about the future but he failed to foresee Caleb's next question.

"Where do I fit in?"

"You're an improvement," Jarod replied sadly after a moment, "You're a better pretender than me, therefore more profitable. And two pretenders are better than one." What better way to ensure the profits kept rolling in. As Mr Parker had earmarked Jarod's offspring as the future of the Centre he needed another way to increase funds - and the possibilities the project opened up were endless and profitable in their own way too. A clone ensured at the very least a replica of Jarod's abilities - there was no guarantee a child of his would produce similar results, though Jarod suspected Finn would prove otherwise.

Caleb could only nod his head weakly; when Ethan had warned him it wasn't going to be pretty he hadn't been exaggerating. Caleb had already known that was the answer. When the shock of meeting Jarod, the man who had supposedly killed his parents, had worn off and the truth had eventually come out, it had been obvious. But somewhere deep inside he wanted the reason to be different. He didn't want his existence to be so... clinical. "And Africa? I was supposed to be going to the Triumverate."

"I have no proof," Jarod began, "But I suspect giving you up was going to ease the pressure on Mr Parker." Handing over 'Project Gemini' had been a peace offering, a deal for more time to find the original. However when he and the Major had thwarted that plan, angering the Triumverate further, the deal was in tatters and Mr Parker and Brigette had been forced underground.

Caleb mused over the answer for a moment before accepting it then thought once again about the Centre, the Triumverate and Jarod. He knew from Jarod's demeanour, from the pained look in his eyes, that Jarod was just as unhappy as he was. But there was more too; Jarod had been kept prisoner by the place he rightfully should have run, been used by people who were family. He looked to Miss Parker, sat opposite Ethan at the kitchen table, who still seemed upset and he wondered exactly what part of all this was responsible for that. She held onto a cup of coffee, staring into its contents, seemingly oblivious to everyone else around her. He wanted to ask her but that wasn't his place; not in this instance anyway. Instead he sought out the only other details that intrigued him. "How did this 'deal' begin?" he asked, turning his attention back to Jarod to find the older man scrutinising him closely.

"The Parkers established the Centre but only with the Triumverate's assistance," Jarod explained evenly, his eyes still on Caleb, "I believe it was an advantageous move for both parties at the time. Though the Parker family has always had autonomy the Triumverate seem to think of the Centre, have always thought of it, as an arm of their 'company' though they seemed quite happy with the arrangement until I escaped."

"Then they really started to turn the screw," Parker interjected, her eyes still cast downward. And that was what she really feared. Jarod's take on the situation was accurate but she'd witnessed the uncertainty in Mr Parker's eyes whenever the Triumverate interfered, the way they had him over a barrel and at their beck and call, the way even Raines bowed down to their authority. Even after working at the Centre for so long she really knew very little about the Triumverate; she doubted Jarod knew much more. But they knew all about the Centre.

"So what's the next move?" Ethan asked slowly as the other two men stared intently and quietly at his sister. She'd been so quiet and introspective since Jarod had begun relating Margaret's tale and her sudden burst had surprised the other two men.

Jarod wondered again how much Ethan already knew but his brother's face revealed nothing. "Well," he began, both Ethan and Caleb watching him attentively, "I have a new deal to broker." Again, Ethan seemed impassive but Caleb's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"You're going to stake your claim?" the younger man asked, his voice matching his features. He was suddenly hopeful too. He had been wondering, pretty much from the time he had been rescued, why Jarod, or the Major for that matter, had never taken the direct approach before. The subterfuge was fine, and he understood what they were up against, he just wondered why they had never fought for their freedom, why they had never went pulic or turned to the authorities. Jarod's idea appealed immensely to him.

"It's not without risk," Jarod answered evenly, hoping to convince Parker as well, "But so is continuing to run; we'll never be without danger." That was why Margaret had kept a low profile even after the Centre's fall. The Triumverate would still want him, if only for his skills - and that meant Finn and Caleb too. "This deal between the Centre, between the Parkers and the Triumverate, this could be the best way to keep us all safe."

"Will they honour it?" Caleb asked, his mind already poring over the possible avenues they could pursue.

"I don't know," Jarod sighed. He glanced at Miss Parker still feeling uncertain about which way she would eventually go. This probably wasn't going to convince her further; "They did with the Centre, for a long time. But they weren't averse to taking the odd chance on Mr Parker's life either, when the pressure was on and the opportunity - and motive - was ripe. Alex was supposedly working an assignment for the Triumverate but I suspect his true goal was something else entirely."

"To eliminate Mr Parker," Ethan said quietly.

Nodding, Jarod went on. "Yes, though not before he'd lured me in too." A saying he'd heard seemed appropriate, 'two birds with one stone'. "Ultimately he took that as far as he could," Jarod shrugged. Alex had let everyone, the Triumverate included, believe he was dead and tried to finish the job - only that time he was dancing to his own tune. Not even the Triumverate could claim complete control over Alex but Jarod was sure they'd try to do that with himself. If they thought he was still unaware of his true heritage they certainly wouldn't enlighten him.

"There were other attempts too," Parker said quietly, her eyes finally seeking out Jarod's at her side. "Brigette was originally sent by the Triumverate to kill Mr Parker." She'd fought tooth and nail that night to keep Mr Parker safe but it was worse than that; she'd taken a bullet for him too. "And on the airstrip..."

Jarod nodded sadly, finding fear in her eyes. His heart tore and, for the first time, he questioned his decision to take on the Triumverate. There was no eal reason for them to continue to honour the deal and there were a million ways they could destroy him and, in doing so, hurt her. He didn't want to cause her pain once more, she'd already experienced too much loss. But that could still happen if they continued to run. No, he really believed this was the best course of action even if it meant losing her.

Ethan cleared his throat, conscious of interrupting the intimate moment they were sharing. "And if the Triumverate agree?" Ethan asked, "If they uphold this deal, or say they will, what then?"

Jarod turned his attention reluctantly back to Ethan and was about to answer when he felt Parker's hand grip his. His eyes quickly sought her out again and he found her staring at Ethan, her features hardened and looking very much like the Ice Queen of old. The sudden change startled him but also gave him endless hope.

"We can start again, only this time it'll be different," she said determinedly, "This time we'll be in control." She felt Jarod's eyes on her and turned hers back to him. The look on his face made hers immediately soften. "We're in this together," she said with a smile, making her choice. Jarod was right, annoyingly, and they could do this. Together. They'd proven that before. Listening to him retell the sordid past they shared tried to think of an argument to persuade him against this plan. She didn't want to lose him but she didn't want to be without him either. But she couldn't think of anyway to deter him; he was aware of exactly what lay ahead and if anyone could pull this off it was him - he just needed her to do it. "Besides genius, you need me. I am technically still the chairman's daughter. I don't suppose the Triumverate will have enlightened anyone left standing the truth surrounding that little 'fact'?"

Jarod smiled; with relief that he wasn't going to lose her and with adoration that she was already thinking of ways they could succede. Everything he admired about her had just been displayed. He had already considered starting the 'takeover' with the remaining satellite offices, aware that with her help it would be a more viable plan but he had refused to factor in her assistance. Not until she consented. He knew better than to take any aspect of her for granted. Now that she had he felt reasonably confident they could pull this off. "There'd be no reason to do so," he agreed, "The presumption is that you perished along with Mr Parker and Lyle."

"Good," she smiled, Jarod's confidence rubbing off on her. If there was a light at the end of the tunnel, one high point, it would be dealing with the Triumverate when they realised that not only was she very much alive but she and Jarod knew exactly where they stood.

"I'm not sure what I can do but count me in, Jarod," Ethan volunteered.

"Me too," Caleb chipped in.

Jarod smiled widely at the two men. Moments ago he'd been facing this alone. "You don't have to," he said pointedly to Caleb. He'd appreciate Caleb's help, he'd already proven himself more than capable the last couple of months, but the young man could still have a chance of a life away from the Centre.

"I do," he replied, "You need me - I'm a better pretender... Remember?" he said on a grin. He met Jarod's eyes, daring him to say no but the pretender only nodded his agreement.

Jarod felt Parker's hand squeeze his and he stole a glance at her, finding a warm, determined, smile on her beautiful face. He thought he might have scared her away, that the path that lay ahead would be too steep, but she was stronger than that. And with Ethan and Caleb on their side he was ever more certain that they wouldn't have to run any longer.

Caleb began to throw ideas at Jarod, who listened quietly with a contained smile on his face. This was something Caleb could really sink his teeth into and put his talents to good use on.

Parker exchanged reassuring smiles with her brother as they too let Caleb take the floor, his enthusiasm running over and increasing the optimism around the table. She listened for a minute or two before the nature of the conversation, and the realisation of what she'd just agreed to, hit her once more causing a sudden wave of doubt. She excused herself, announcing that she wanted to check in on Finn. Making her way back upstairs she quickly sought out her son and found him still sleeping contentedly. Taking a deep breath to settle herself she brushed one hand down Finn's cheek. He was the reason she'd agreed to this, it was his future, and his present, that they needed to secure - she just needed to reassure herself momentarily of that fact. And Finn was the only one who could do that.

"Are you okay with this?" Jarod asked softly from the doorway.

He was still smiling slightly even though his voice betrayed an undertow of uncertainty. "Yes," she confirmed, "You need me, I need you... And we need to be safe." She paused briefly as Jarod continued to watch her carefully, "This isn't going to be easy," she said softly. She smiled weakly at him, the gesture betraying more than she'd have liked. He seemed to recognise that as his gaze quickly turned to concern.

"That's not it," Jarod said, shaking his head. In truth he was as scared as she was but a healthy dose of fear wouldn't do them any harm, if anything he felt it would be to their advantage. He believed what she had said but that wasn't what was bothering her.

She glanced once more at Finn before returning her gaze to his father and admitting to what had been bothering her from the very moment he'd announced he belonged to the Parker family. "I thought we were done with that life, with The Centre," she admitted quietly, "I thought we were free."

Jarod's smile faded as he made his way towards her. He wrapped his arms around her, around the woman who had shared so much of his past and would now share his future too. He wished he could offer more comfort but the only thing he had was himself. "We were never free," he whispered sadly into her ear and she tightened her hold on him.

Maybe, one day, they would be.


End file.
